The “thermodynamic cube,” a mnemonic device for learning and recalling thermodynamic relations, is introduced. The cube is an extension of the familiar “thermodynamic square” seen in many textbooks. The cube reproduces the functions of the usual thermodynamic squares and incorporates the Euler relations which are not as well known.
REFERENCES
1.
H. B. Callen, Thermodynamics (Wiley, New York, 1985), 2nd ed.
2.
K. Huang, Statistical Mechanics (Wiley, New York, 1987), 2nd ed.
3.
Note that the cube is not the only polyhedron which could be used to represent these thermodynamic relations. The truncated octahedron, for example, could be used equally well.
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© 1999 American Association of Physics Teachers.
1999
American Association of Physics Teachers
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