WAVES, FLUIDS AND THERMODYNAMICS  (COURSE A)

 

PROGRAMME

 

Thermodynamics

Brief historical recalls on thermodynamics. Thermodynamical system: macroscopic and microscopic descriptions. Definition of pressure. Zeroth principle of thermodynamics. Thermal dilatation and the measure of temperature. Thermometers and thermometric scales. Heat transfer. Concept of perfect gas and the equation of state. Concept of ideal gas and the kinetic theory of gases. Real gases, the law of Van der Waals, state diagrams. Heat, phase transitions, specific and latent heat. Work and thermodynamic processes.  The 1st Principle of Thermodynamics and its applications. The 1st Principle and perfect gas processes. Heat engines and refrigerators. Carnot and Otto cycles. Efficiency of the heat engines. Postulates of Kelvin and Clausius. The 2nd Principle of Thermodynamics. Reversible and irreversible processes and the Carnot principle. Concept of entropy and the 2nd Principle. Entropy and probability. The thermodynamic potentials. The 3rd Principle of Thermodynamics.

 

Waves

Propagation of a perturbation along an elastic bar. The vibrating string. The d’Alembert equation of waves. The superposition principle.  Transverse and longitudinal waves. Sound waves. Harmonic waves. Standing waves. Group velocity. The Doppler effect.

 

Fluids

Definition of fluid. Compressible and incompressible fluids. Hydrostatics. The Pascal law: the hydraulic press. The Stevino law. The Archimedes principle. Hydrodynamics of ideal fluids. The Bernoulli theorem and its applications. The voluminal flow through a pipe. The Venturi tube. The Torricelli theorem. The Pitot tube. The Magnus effect. Lift of an aircraft wing. Hydrodynamics of real fluids. The laminar flow. Viscosity. The Hagen-Poiseuille law. The turbulent flow. The pressure drop in a pipe. The Reynolds number. Motion of a body in a fluid. Fluid drag on submerged bodies. Wake resistance. The drag coefficient. The Euler equations of hydrodynamics. Eulerian and lagrangian descriptions of the fluid motion.

 

Suggested textbooks:

Gettys, Keller & Skove: Fisica1. Meccanica e Termodinamica, McGraw-Hill

Tipler: Corso di Fisica. Meccanica, Onde e Termodinamica, Zanichelli

Wolfson & Pasachoff: Fisica. Meccanica e Termodinamica, Zanichelli

Mazzoldi, Nigro & Voci: Fisica. Meccanica-Termodinamica, EdiSES