Physics Lesson 13.5.3 - Giving Energy to a Thermodynamic System

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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Giving Energy to a Thermodynamic System, this is the third lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of The First Law of Thermodynamics, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.

Giving Energy to a Thermodynamic System

There are two possible ways to provide energy to a thermodynamic system.

By providing heat to the system. For example, we can use a heat source to transfer energy to a gas by heating it.
By doing work on the system. For example, if we push down the piston of a cylinder, we do work on the gas and as a result, its internal energy increases even if no heat is supplied to the gas.

Since internal energy is proportional to the temperature, both the abovementioned ways of energy transfer bring an increase in gas temperature.

By definition, mechanical work W, is defined as an energy transfer to or from a system, not resulting from temperature difference.

From the molecular point of view, the work done from outside (from the piston when it moves down for example) to the system increases its internal energy because gas molecules bounce back faster when colliding with the moving piston, similar to a tennis-table ball when hit by a racquet. A heating process also increases the speed of molecules, as they collide with "hot" molecules of the walls, in addition to the radiation they absorb.

You have reached the end of Physics lesson 13.5.3 Giving Energy to a Thermodynamic System. There are 6 lessons in this physics tutorial covering The First Law of Thermodynamics, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.

More The First Law of Thermodynamics Lessons and Learning Resources

Thermodynamics Learning Material
Tutorial ID	Physics Tutorial Title	Revision Notes	Revision Questions
13.5	The First Law of Thermodynamics
Lesson ID	Physics Lesson Title	Lesson	Video Lesson
13.5.1	Useful Definitions in Thermodynamics
13.5.2	Internal Energy of a Gas
13.5.3	Giving Energy to a Thermodynamic System
13.5.4	Work Done on a System and Work Done by a System
13.5.5	The First Law of Thermodynamics
13.5.6	Special Cases of the First Law of Thermodynamics

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Continuing learning thermodynamics - read our next physics tutorial: The Kinetic Theory of Gases. Ideal Gases

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