THE MODERN THERMODYNAMICS AS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF VIRTUAL WORK
THE MODERN THERMODYNAMICS AS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF VIRTUAL WORK

Author(s): Raffaele Pisano, Antonino Drago
Subject(s): History, Philosophy, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: Scientia Socialis, UAB
Keywords: Thermodynamics; Mechanics; Virtual work; Sadi Carnot; Lazare Carnot;
Summary/Abstract: The principle of virtual work governs some formulations of mechanins which are alternative to Newtonian mechanics. Lazare Carnot explicitly claimed to have founded his formulation on principle of virtual velocities, which for the first time obtained in a theoretical way the characteristic laws of mechanical machines. An analysis of Sadi Carnot’s thermodynamics’ theoretical premises reveals that most of them represent characteristic features of the principle of virtual work, so it is possible to suggest a formal link between Lazare Carnot’s mechanics and modern thermodynamics: two basic principles of the latter one,included the correct formula for the efficiency of a heat engine.

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