What is Thermodynamics?
Thermodynamics is the area of science that includes the relationship between heat and other kinds of energy. Thermodynamics was discovered and studied beginning in the 1800s. At that time, it was linked to and gained importance because of the use of steam engines. Thermodynamics can be broken down into four laws. Although added to the laws of thermodynamics after the other three laws, the zeroth law is usually discussed first. It states that if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. In other words, if two systems are the same temperature as a third system, then all three are the same temperatures. The first law of thermodynamics states that the total energy of a system remains constant, even if it is converted from one form to another. For example, kinetic energy — the energy that an object possesses when it moves — is converted to heat energy when a driver presses the brakes on the car to slow it down. There ar
