heat: Study and Analysis of Heat

The study of heat and its relationship to useful work is called thermodynamics and involves macroscopic quantities such as pressure, temperature, and volume without regard for the molecular basis of these quantities. Low-temperature physics is concerned with phenomena that occur at extremely low temperatures. The analysis of heat on the basis of the structure of matter is considered in the kinetic-molecular theory of gases and provides an explanation for the various gas laws. The gas laws in turn serve to define an absolute temperature scale based on theoretical considerations (see Kelvin temperature scale).

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Study and Analysis of Heat
• Transfer of Heat
• Heat of Vaporization
• Heat of Fusion
• Specific Heat
• Measures of Heat
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Physics