Edward A. Guggenheim (1902–1971) was a notable British physicist and chemist, primarily recognized for his contributions to the fields of thermodynamics and physical chemistry. He is particularly well-known for his work on the thermodynamic properties of gases and the development of statistical mechanics. Guggenheim had an influential academic career and published several papers and books that advanced understanding of thermodynamic principles and their applications.
Jacob Bekenstein was a prominent theoretical physicist known for his groundbreaking work in the field of black hole thermodynamics and quantum gravity. Born on March 1, 1947, in Jerusalem and passing away on August 16, 2023, Bekenstein is best known for proposing that black holes have entropy and that this entropy is proportional to the area of their event horizon, a concept he introduced in the early 1970s.
Joel Lebowitz is a prominent American mathematical physicist notable for his contributions to statistical mechanics, dynamical systems, and probability theory. He is well-known for his work on the foundations of statistical mechanics and has made significant contributions to understanding non-equilibrium processes. Lebowitz has been involved in various academic and research initiatives and is recognized for his influence on both theoretical and applied aspects of physics. He has held positions at several prestigious institutions and has authored numerous papers and articles throughout his career.
Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837–1923) was a Dutch physicist and thermodynamicist best known for his work on the behavior of gases and liquids. He is particularly renowned for formulating the van der Waals equation of state, which describes how real gases deviate from the ideal gas law by incorporating the effects of molecular attraction and the volume occupied by gas molecules.
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-American physicist known for his contributions to nuclear and particle physics. He was born on September 29, 1901, in Rome, Italy, and died on November 28, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
George N. Hatsopoulos is an accomplished engineer and entrepreneur known primarily for his contributions in the fields of aerospace engineering and energy. He is also noted for his role as a co-founder of Thermo Electron Corporation (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific), a company that focuses on analytical instruments, lab equipment, and biotechnology. Hatsopoulos has had a significant impact on various technological advancements and has been involved in several ventures across different sectors.
Joseph Black (1728-1799) was a Scottish physician and chemist, renowned for his significant contributions to the field of chemistry and thermodynamics. He is best known for his discovery of latent heat, which is the heat energy absorbed or released during a phase change of a substance without changing its temperature. This work laid the groundwork for later developments in thermodynamics. Black also studied the properties of gases and is credited with the identification of carbon dioxide, which he referred to as "fixed air.
Joseph Henry Keenan was an American physicist known for his contributions to the fields of nuclear physics and aerospace engineering. He was particularly recognized for his research on radiation and its applications.
Herbert Callen was an American physicist, best known for his contributions to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. He was a professor at Columbia University and co-authored a widely used textbook titled "Thermodynamics" with Edward M. Ott. This textbook has been influential in the teaching and understanding of thermodynamic principles. Callen's work laid important groundwork in the field, particularly in the formulation of the laws of thermodynamics and their applications to various physical systems.
Jürgen Gmehling is a German chemist known for his work in the fields of chemical engineering and thermodynamics. He is particularly recognized for his contributions to the development of methods for the design and optimization of processes involving phase equilibrium and separation processes. Gmehling has published extensively on topics such as predictive models for thermophysical properties and the behavior of mixtures in various phases. He has also been involved in academic research, teaching, and potentially holding positions at universities or research institutions.
The ebullioscopic constant, often denoted as \( K_b \), is a property of a solvent that indicates how much the boiling point of a solution will increase per mole of solute particles added to a kilogram of the solvent. This constant is useful in colligative properties, which depend on the number of solute particles in a solution rather than their identity.
Lazare Carnot (1753–1823) was a French physicist and military engineer, often referred to as one of the founders of thermodynamics. He is particularly known for his work on the principles of energy conservation and the idea of heat engines. His most significant contribution to science is the formulation of what is now known as the "Carnot cycle," which is a theoretical model that defines the maximum efficiency of a heat engine operating between two temperature reservoirs.
Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) is a technology used primarily in thermal processes to enhance the efficiency of evaporation and concentration operations. It involves the recovery and recompression of vapor generated during evaporation processes, allowing for heat to be reused within the system. This cycle maximizes energy efficiency and reduces the need for external energy sources, such as steam or hot water.
The term "mixed or dual cycle" generally refers to a type of thermodynamic cycle used in engines and power generation systems that combines two or more different thermodynamic cycles to improve efficiency and performance. ### Key Examples of Mixed/Dual Cycles: 1. **Dual Cycle Engine**: - The dual cycle (or mixed cycle) is used in some internal combustion engines and is a combination of the Otto cycle (which describes gasoline engines) and the Diesel cycle.
Pomeranchuk cooling is a phenomenon observed in certain systems, particularly in the context of nuclear and particle physics, associated with the cooling of a system due to the interaction and redistribution of energy among particles with different types of excitations. It is named after the physicist I. Pomeranchuk, who contributed to the theoretical understanding of these processes.
Richard Mollier (1863–1935) was a notable German engineer and physicist, best known for his contributions to the field of thermodynamics, particularly in the study of psychrometrics and the behavior of moist air. He developed the "Mollier diagram," also known as the enthalpy-entropy diagram, which graphically represents the relationships between various thermodynamic properties of moist air, such as temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and entropy.
Werner Kuhn (born July 29, 1910 – died July 29, 1994) was a German chemist known for his contributions to physical chemistry, particularly in the areas of molecular theory and polymer science. He played a significant role in developments related to the understanding of polymers and their properties. One of Kuhn's notable contributions was the Kuhn length concept, which provides a measure of the size of a segment of a polymer chain that behaves independently of other segments.
Thermal stability refers to the ability of a substance or material to maintain its physical and chemical properties at elevated temperatures. It is an important characteristic in various fields, including materials science, chemistry, and engineering, as it determines how a material behaves when exposed to heat. Key aspects of thermal stability include: 1. **Decomposition**: Many compounds will break down or decompose when exposed to high temperatures. A material with high thermal stability will not decompose until it reaches the decomposition temperature.
A vapor pressure thermometer is a type of temperature measuring device that operates on the principle of vapor pressure equilibrium. It uses the relationship between temperature and the vapor pressure of a liquid to determine temperature measurements. Here's how it generally works: ### Components 1. **Sensing Element**: This is typically a sealed bulb or chamber that contains a liquid (often a volatile liquid) with a known vapor pressure behavior.
Pinned article: ourbigbook/introduction-to-the-ourbigbook-project
Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
Intro to OurBigBook
. Source. We have two killer features:
- topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculusArticles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
- a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
- a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.Figure 1. Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page. View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivativeVideo 2. OurBigBook Web topics demo. Source. - local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
- to OurBigBook.com to get awesome multi-user features like topics and likes
- as HTML files to a static website, which you can host yourself for free on many external providers like GitHub Pages, and remain in full control
Figure 2. You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either OurBigBook.com or as a static website.Figure 3. Visual Studio Code extension installation.Figure 5. . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally. Video 3. Edit locally and publish demo. Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension. - Infinitely deep tables of contents:
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact