Finn's Thermal Physics

*Click here for a Q&A session with the author: https://www.crcpress.com/go/9781138703780_authorQA Andrew Rex is a professor of physics at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He earned a BA in physics at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1977 and a PhD in physics at the University of Virginia in 1982. At Virginia he worked under the direction of Bascom S. Deaver Jr on the development of new superconducting materials. After completing requirements for his PhD, he joined the faculty at Puget Sound. Dr Rex’s primary research interest is in the foundations of the second law of thermodynamics. He has published research articles and, jointly with Harvey Leff, two comprehensive monographs on the subject of Maxwell’s demon (1990, 2003). Dr Rex has coauthored several widely used textbooks—Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers (1993, 2000, 2006, 2013, 2021), Integrated Physics and Calculus (2000), and Essential College Physics (2010, 2021)—and the popular science book Commonly Asked Questions in Physics, also published by Taylor & Francis/CRC Press. Dr Rex has served in administrative roles, including chair of his department and director of the University of Puget Sound Honors Program. He is devoted to physics education and has been an active participant in the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Society of Physics Students, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Sigma Xi. In 2004, Dr Rex was recognized for his teaching with the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Chapter 1: Temperature. Chapter 2: Reversible Processes and Work. Chapter 3: The First Law of Thermodynamics. Chapter 4: The Second Law of Thermodynamics. Chapter 5: Entropy. Chapter 6: Statistical Mechanics. Chapter 7: The Thermodynamic Potentials and the Maxwell Relations. Chapter 8: General Thermodynamic Relations. Chapter 9: Magnetic Systems. Chapter 10: Phase Changes. Chapter 11: Open Systems and Chemical Potential. Chapter 12: The Third Law of Thermodynamics. Chapter 13: Quantum Statistics. Appendix A: Values of Physical Constants and Conversion Factors. Appendix B: Some Mathematical Relations Used in Thermodynamics. Appendix C: The Work Required to Magnetize a Magnetic Material and to Polarize a Dielectric. Appendix D: Answers to Selected Problems. Index.