Thermodynamic States

Highlights of the activity

1. This small group activity is designed to teach students that the set of numbers that describes a state is unique and can be located on different representations of a thermodynamic system.
2. Students work in small groups to reason about how many states can and must be specified to indicate a state.
3. The whole class wrap-up discussion emphasizes how many pieces of information are needed to communicate a state.

Reasons to spend class time on the activity

Reflections

• Reflections from the original implementation.

• Reflections from "official" adapters/adopters.

• Reflections from the general public.

Instructor's Guide

• Wiki version

eesurfstatesguide.pdf

Student Handouts

eesurfstateshand.pdf