Essential Engineering Thermodynamics: A Student's Guide (Synthesis Lectures on Mechanical Engineering)

Engineering Thermodynamics is a core course for students majoring in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Before taking this course, students usually have learned \textit{Engineering Mechanics}―Statics and Dynamics, and they are used to solving problems with calculus and differential equations. Unfortunately, these approaches do not apply for Thermodynamics. Instead, they have to rely on many data tables and graphs to solve problems. In addition, many concepts are hard to understand, such as entropy. Therefore, most students feel very frustrated while taking this course.

The key concept in Engineering Thermodynamics is state-properties: If one knows two properties, the state can be determined, as well as the other four properties. Unlike most textbooks, the first two chapters of this book introduce thermodynamic properties and laws with the ideal gas model, where equations can be engaged. In this way, students can employ their familiar approaches, and thus canunderstand them much better. In order to help students understand entropy in depth, interpretation with statistical physics is introduced. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss control-mass and control-volume processes with general fluids, where the data tables are used to solve problems. Chapter 5 covers a few advanced topics, which can also help students understand the concepts in thermodynamics from a broader perspective.

Yumin Zhang is a professor in the Department of Engineering & Technology, Southeast Missouri State University. In 1981, he was admitted into the Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University in China, and his career goal was in the field of aerospace engineering. However, his dream was shattered by the course of thermodynamics, since he had great trouble learning it. His experience was not an exception; generations of engineering students have studied thermodynamics in college and many of them felt confused by the subject matter. In fall 2008, Yumin received a teaching assignment in a thermodynamics course and therefore had to relearn it. After a quarter of a century, he had become more mature from his experience in learning and research and therefore he found that thermodynamics was not hard at all; instead, it was very beautiful. Survey results from his students in 2016 showed that this course was not more difficult than other engineering courses, such as Engineering Mechanics-Dynamics. Therefore, he would like to share his understanding and approaches with more students and hopes that this book can help them overcome the challenges of learning thermodynamics.