Teaching Thermodynamics with Physlets® in Introductory Physics

Anne J Cox, Eckerd College, St Petersburg, FL

Mario Belloni, Melissa Dancy and Wolfgang Christian, Davidson College, Davidson, NC

Figures

• Figure 1: Instantaneous speed distribution.
• Figure 2 & 3: Pressure.
• Figure 4: Equipartition.
• Figure 5: Work and PV Diagrams.
• Figure 6: Entropy (Problem 21.7 in Christian and Belloni, Physlet Physics, Prentice Hall, 2003).
• Figure 7: Otto Engine.

Referenced Exercises

Christian and Belloni, Physlet Physics: Interactive Illustrations, Explorations and Problems for Introductory Physics (NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004).

• Exploration 20.1: Kinetic theory: microscopic and macroscopic connections.
• Exploration 20.4: Equipartition theorem.
• Exploration 20.6: Specific heat at constant pressure and constant volume.