--- title: Thermodynamics description: Thermodynamics explores the relationships between heat, work, entropy, and energy. Students analyze phase equilibria, chemical reactions, and power cycles, gaining the ability to predict system behavior and calculate the efficiency of energy conversion systems. category: engineering subcategory: chemical-engineering difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/thermodynamics --- # Thermodynamics Thermodynamics explores the relationships between heat, work, entropy, and energy. Students analyze phase equilibria, chemical reactions, and power cycles, gaining the ability to predict system behavior and calculate the efficiency of energy conversion systems. ## Available Resources 6 Books • 6 Courses • 1 Websites ## Courses ### 1. Thermodynamics Learn thermodynamics: energy, heat, and entropy! Master the laws of thermodynamics with this free course from Khan Academy. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/thermodynamics **Tags:** thermodynamics, heat, entropy, physics, laws-of-thermodynamics ### 2. Nano-to-Macro Transport Processes (MIT 2.57) **Author:** Gang Chen Treats photons, electrons, phonons and molecules as energy carriers: energy levels, statistical behavior, wave and particle transport, scattering, the Boltzmann equation, and where classical heat-transfer laws fail at the nanoscale. 25 lecture videos, a 177-page lecture-note text, problem sets and exams. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/2-57-nano-to-macro-transport-processes-spring-2012/ **Tags:** nanoscale-heat-transfer, phonons, boltzmann-transport-equation, thermal-transport, energy-carriers ### 3. Advanced Thermodynamics (MIT 2.43) **Author:** Gian Paolo Beretta A concise review of general thermodynamics leading into nonequilibrium thermodynamics: chemical and phase equilibrium, electrochemical potentials, kinetics, separation work, osmotic and membrane equilibria, and Onsager reciprocity. Includes 25 lecture videos, dense lecture notes and exams, with applications to cogeneration and energy-system efficiency. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/2-43-advanced-thermodynamics-spring-2024/ **Tags:** nonequilibrium-thermodynamics, chemical-equilibrium, phase-equilibria, second-law-analysis, energy-systems ### 4. Unified Engineering I, II, III, & IV (MIT 16.01) **Author:** Mark Drela, Steven Hall, Paul A. Lagace et al. The sophomore aerospace core taught as one sequence: materials and structures, computers and programming, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, propulsion, and signals and systems. Includes 20 lecture videos, extensive notes, and problem sets and exams with solutions that connect the disciplines through engineering systems problems. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/16-01-unified-engineering-i-ii-iii-iv-fall-2005-spring-2006/ **Tags:** fluid-mechanics, thermodynamics, structural-mechanics, signals-and-systems, propulsion ### 5. Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics “Classical thermodynamics is the only universal physical theory” (Einstein). Let us master the "key to thermodynamics" and open the door to a new era of chemical engineering theory and application. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.edx.org/learn/chemical-engineering/tsinghua-university-advanced-chemical-engineering-thermodynamicsgao-de **Tags:** courses, engineering-manufacturing, chemical-engineering ### 6. Chemical Engineering Fundamentals A first course in chemical engineering thermodynamics, working through the first and second laws, property relations, and non-ideal behaviour of pure fluids. Completing it prepares you for solution thermodynamics, phase equilibrium, and later separations and reaction engineering coursework. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/chemtherm1 **Tags:** courses, engineering-manufacturing, chemical-engineering ## Books ### 1. An Introduction to Thermal Physics **Author:** Daniel V. Schroeder Undergraduate textbook covering classical thermodynamics, statistical mechanics and kinetic theory in one narrative, with worked physical examples. Readers finish able to derive entropy, free energies and Boltzmann and quantum distributions, and apply them to engines, phase changes and solids. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0201380277?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, science-research, physics ### 2. Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics **Author:** J.M. Smith, H.C. Van Ness, M.M. Abbott Standard chemical engineering course text building from the first and second laws to volumetric properties, phase equilibrium and reaction equilibrium. Students learn to size compressors and turbines, apply equations of state, and compute VLE for separation design. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0070587019?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, engineering-manufacturing, chemical-engineering ### 3. Fundamentals of Thermodynamics **Author:** Claus Borgnakke, Richard E. Sonntag Classical treatment written from an engineer's viewpoint, moving from properties of pure substances through the first and second laws to power and refrigeration cycles. Prepares students for later work in fluid mechanics, heat transfer and statistical thermodynamics. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/047017157X?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, engineering-manufacturing, mechanical-engineering ### 4. Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach **Author:** Yunus A. Cengel, Michael A. Boles Widely assigned mechanical engineering text known for physical intuition and a large problem set drawn from industry. Covers energy analysis of closed systems and control volumes, entropy, exergy, gas and vapor power cycles, refrigeration, mixtures and combustion. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071250840?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, engineering-manufacturing, chemical-engineering ### 5. Engineering Thermodynamics **Author:** Michael J. Moran, Howard N. Shapiro Wiley engineering text organised around the entropy-production form of the second law. Works through control-volume energy analysis, vapour and gas power systems, property relations, ideal gas mixtures, psychrometrics, combustion and chemical equilibrium, with several hundred solved examples and problems. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471629847?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, engineering-manufacturing, mechanical-engineering ### 6. Chemical, Biochemical, and Engineering Thermodynamics **Author:** Stanley I. Sandler Graduate-leaning text that extends classical thermodynamics to mixtures, activity coefficient models and equations of state, then to biochemical systems such as protein and ligand binding. Readers gain tools for phase and reaction equilibrium calculations in process and biological contexts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471661740?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, engineering-manufacturing, chemical-engineering ## Websites ### 1. chemengonline.com Website of Chemical Engineering magazine, a trade publication from Access Intelligence covering separations, heat transfer, automation, water treatment and solids handling. Useful for plant-practice news and equipment reference; much editorial content sits behind a paid membership, and some articles are sponsored. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://chemengonline.com **Tags:** websites, engineering-manufacturing, chemical-engineering --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/thermodynamics