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Re: first law of thermo



I wrote:
"Assume some of (probably most of)
the thermal energy is in the form of thermal phonons. For
a phonon, half the energy is kinetic and half is potential.
It's just a harmonic oscillator, after all."

Bernard Cleyet wrote:

Suppose the temp. is very high so the restoring force is no longer linear. Is
the only effect, the ratio of pe and ke is no longer one?

Well, "only" is too strong a word.
There are lots of effects.

And "very high" is too strong, also.

Example: The restoring force in an ice crystal
becomes rather nonlinear at about zero centigrade.
The microscopic details of this situation are very
complicated, but the main thermodynamic features
are widely known.

You might want to think about the 100 C situation,
also.