Thermal and Classical Physics (PHYC20009)

This subject extends knowledge of fundamental thermal physics principles and introduces the powerful and elegant Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of classical mechanics. Topics from thermal physics include thermal equilibrium, ideal gas and kinetic theory, equipartition of energy, heat and work, heat capacity, latent heat, enthalpy, thermodynamic processes; thermal systems and statistics, interacting systems, statistics of large systems, entropy, temperature and heat, pressure, chemical potential; heat engines, Carnot cycle, refrigerators, throttling process; Helmholtz and Gibbs Free energies, and phase transformations. In classical physics, topics will include elementary principles (Newton’s laws, momentum and energy conservation, mechanics of systems of particles), Lagrange’s equations (constraints and generalized coordinates, Lagrange’s equations, velocity dependent and dissipative forces, applications, symmetries and conservation laws, stability and oscillations) and Hamilton’s principle (calculus of variation, applications, Hamilton’s principle, Legendre transformations).