Natural Science - Year II
Unit 47: The Industrial Revolution and Power
Parents Guide for Unit 47
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Parent Notes for Unit 47: The Industrial Revolution and Power
Preparation
Below are notes on the main points of each assignment.
- History Web Lecture:
Sadi Carnot (French), James Joule (English), and Rudolf Clausius (German) each contributed to our modern concept of heat and energy. Carnot showed that the effects of heat and heat flow could not be adequately explained by the concept of heat as a type of material fluid (caloric) that moved from one substance to another. Joule was able to show that heat was a form of energy, and could be converted in consistent amounts to mechanical energy: a change in temperature would indicate a specific heat flow that could do a predictable amount of work moving something from one place to another. Clausius put the study of heat on a mathematical foundation by showing that energy always conserved: the total amount of energy remains the same, although energy can change from one form to another. He also realized that no heat engine is 100% efficient, and that some energy is always "lost" in the sense that it does not do the work intended but creates random motion in the system. Clausius named this randomizing tendency entropy.
- Science Web Lecture:The conservation of energy.
Modern science codifies the energy theories of Clausius as the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Help the student consider the difference between a theory and a law. We also need to consider how thermodynamics laws (based on the statistically likely behavior of large systems of particles) differ from the laws of motion and gravity (which accurately predict the behavior of individual objects).
- Homework:
Homework focusses on helping the student verbalize more precisely the common concepts of "heat" and "energy". This is harder than you might think, but it is by focussing on precision that Carnot and Joule were able to realize that heat and motion are two kinds of the same thing, energy, a phenomenon which we never observe directly but only in its effects on the states and motion of matter.
- Discussion:
Our discussion will focus on trying to clarify concepts of heat and energy. We will also spend some time on the growing "nationalism" of science, which led to events like the Tait-Clausius controversies, where the accomplishments of individuals become a matter of national prestige.
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