Cokelets Axiom: You have to take thermodynamics three times to understand it' The first time you are - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Cokelets Axiom: You have to take thermodynamics three times to understand it' The first time you are

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Cokelet's Axiom: 'You have to take thermodynamics three times to understand it. ... 3rd: A nice, empty trashcan is wishful thinking. KEEP SHOVELING! ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Cokelets Axiom: You have to take thermodynamics three times to understand it' The first time you are


1
Some Closing Thoughts
  • Cokelets Axiom You have to take
    thermodynamics three times to understand it. The
    first time you are just plugging numbers into
    equations. The second time you are totally
    confused, but by the third time you begin to
    understand it.
  • Dr. Giles Cokelet
  • (my thermo professor)

Raphaels Corollary To really begin to
understand thermodynamics, you have to teach it.
?s Corollary ????
2
Well, maybe we can understand by some analogies .
  • THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS for Sanitation
    Engineers
  • 0th There is s.
  • 1st You can't get rid of it.
  • 2nd It gets deeper.
  • 3rd A nice, empty trashcan is wishful thinking.
  • KEEP SHOVELING!!

3
Three Laws of Thermodynamics (paraphrased)
  • First Law You can't get anything without
    working for it.
  • Second Law The most you can accomplish by work
    is to break even.
  • Third Law You can't break even.

4
Ginsberg's Theorem 1. You can't win. 2. You
can't even break even 3. You can't get out of
the game
  • Freeman's Commentary on Ginsberg's Theorem
    "Every major philosophy that attempts to make
    life seem meaningful is based on the negation of
    one part of Ginsberg's Theorem.
  • 1. Capitalism is based on the assumption that
    you can win.
  • 2. Socialism is based on the assumption that
    you can break even.
  • 3. Mysticism is based on the assumption that
    you can quit the game.

5
Thermodynamics in Biology
  • Biological systems obey the laws of physical and
    chemistry
  • We now have an enormous amount of information on
    events that take place in living cells at the
    molecular level
  • - But most of this is qualitative and
    descriptive
  • Often, we know which phenomena take place, but we
    dont know why things happen the way they do

6
  • Thermodynamics will tell you why and under
    what conditions
  • Some biological questions
  • Why do rafts form in membranes ?
  • Why do cells adhere to each other ?
  • Why do proteins fold?
  • Thermodynamics provides an approach for
    understanding the driving forces responsible for
    many other biological processes and for
    rationalizing the observed pathways. Once we
    understand biological events, we can learn to
    control them and alter them
  • - correcting mis-folding of proteins
  • - controlling adhesion so as increase resistance
    to viral infections

7
What my goals have been
  • To give you an appreciation (if not a love) for
    the subject of thermodynamics
  • Appreciate it even if you cant love it
  • To be mathematically rigorous
  • so as to better prepare you for your future life
  • To teach you to think outside the box
  • so that one of you may find a cure for heart
    disease, cancer, etc.
  • We have covered a lot, but youve actually
    learned more than you think you have learned

8
Recall from the First Lecture
  • "A theory is the more impressive the greater the
    simplicity of its premises, the more different
    kinds of things it relates, and the more extended
    its area of applicability. Hence the deep
    impression that classical thermodynamics made
    upon me. It is the only physical theory of
    universal content concerning which I am convinced
    that within the framework of applicability of its
    basic concepts, will never be overthrown.
  • --- Albert Einstein
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