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Heat and Energy



Hi--

I've been trying to follow this thread about heat and energy.
Yesterday, while I was at the library in Austin I came across the
following quotation by Carnot.

"Heat is simply motive power, or rather motion which has changed its
form. It is a movement among the particles of bodies. Wherever there
is destruction of motive power, there is at the same time production of
heat in quantity exactly proportional to the quantity of motive power
destroyed. Reciprocally, where there is destruction of heat, there is
production of motive power. We can establish the general proposition
that motive power is, in quantity, invariable in nature; that it is,
correctly speaking, never either produced or destroyed. It is true that
it changes its form--that is, it produces sometimes one form of motion,
sometimes another--but it is never annihilated."
Sadi Carnot
[Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat by Sadi Carnot, and Other
Papers on the Second Law of Thermodynamics]
edited by E. Mendoza, (p. 67)

Is Carnot's concept of heat no longer valid? These comments by Carnot
certainly sound like a commitment to energy conservation. From what I
have been reading on the net here it sounds like this is not the current
thought pertaining to heat. When did Carnot's concept of heat become
not valid?

Have a good day.
--
Carl C. Gaither & Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither (Authors)
Statistically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations
Physically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Physics and Astronomy
Mathematically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations
Practically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Engineering
Medically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Dentistry, Medicine,
and Nursing
Scientifically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/StatBook/index.html