CH 321 Spring 2016
Thermodynamics Group Project
Important Dates:
TASK:
Pick a scientific topic to research AND choose at least one area of thermodynamics as detailed below. You will find, using Web of Science, at least two to three peer reviewed journal articles that discuss an area of scientific research and you will discover how thermodynamic concepts/principles were applied to this research. You will write a short, 1000-word paper that details the scientific research and connections to thermodynamics that includes your references.
Requirements: Paper should have a beginning, middle and end. In other words, an introduction to your topic, a body that discusses the research and journal articles and connects them to at least one thermodynamic concept/principle you learned in class and a summary.
The journal articles must be cited and included in a reference section. Note you need to use at least two to three journal articles.
GOALS of ASSIGNMENT
Potential Topics: refrigeration, solar power, biomedical applications, supercritical fluids, liquid crystals, fuel cells, superconductors, food and energy reserves, weather, polymer surface, instrumental techniques: contact angle analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, etc.
Thermodynamic concepts/principles: The perfect gas, Real Gases, First law, Internal Energy, Enthalpy, Heat Capacity, Joule-Thompson Effect, The Second Law, Entropy Changes, The Third law, Free Energy (Gibbs, Helmholtz), Concentrating on Systems and combining 1st and 2nd laws, Physical Transformations, Phase Diagrams-Pure Substances, Thermodynamics of Mixing, Chemical Potential, Solutions, Chemical Equilibrium, response of equilibria to conditions, electrical properties of molecules, polarization, interactions between molecules (intermolecular forces: hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole, dipole-induced dipole), liquids: surface tension, capillary action, surface films.