Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: FLOW of energy



At 10:16 AM 8/31/97 EDT, Ludwik wrote:

Let me try. First, we must define words. I will use "heat" as a synonym
of internal energy. I know I am beatning my old drum but I was not yet
convinced that this is "bad physics".

Ludwik, this has always been an option -- I am willing (if not anxious) to
use "heat" for internal energy. But this brings up many more difficulties:

1) Even with such a definition "Heat" would never "flow" into a system, You
would never say that "internal energy" flows into the system --- that would
be an oxymoron.

2) What are you now going to call the "Q: in the First Law: dU=Q+W. U is
internal energy, no? You don't want to change *that* do you? What *you*
suggest above is to call U "heat"="internal energy".

If you learned anything from my WWW page it is that "Q" due to a process
which acts UPON the system -- just as "W" is due to a process which acts
UPON the system.

I don't see how using two words for U helps.

P.S.
Jim, it may be useful if you give people the web address of your essay
on the first law. Everybody who is involved in this discussion of energy
transfer will benefit from it; I certainly did.

I have posted the URL previously, but ....

http://www.sisna.com/users/jmgreen/first.htm

However, this page (and all the rest) is "under construction" -- please be
tolerant


Jim Green
JMGreen@sisna.com