Thermodynamics of Materials

Catalog description

This course offers a practical introduction to the principles of statistical thermodynamics that links the microscopic atomic details of materials to their macroscopic behavior, and applies these principles to multicomponent material equilibria. The laws and concepts of classical thermodynamics and probability are briefly reviewed, and then applied to introduce the atomic statistical definitions for temperature, entropy, and thermodynamic equilibrium. Statistical methods for enumerating the microscopic configurations of fluids, magnets, solid crystals, and polymers will be covered and applied to evaluate thermodynamic free energies subject to varying macroscopic constraints. These will be used to relate equilibrium properties and phase behavior to the engineerable molecular details of materials. Applications will include equilibrium phase diagrams (binary and ternary), predominance diagrams, chemical reactions, thermodynamics of surfaces, and electrochemistry.