Basic understanding of these laws

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by AcrossSkylight, Jan 22, 2013.

  1. AcrossSkylight Registered Member

    Messages:
    13
    I am one of those High school graduates pushed through school. Sort of in a way I passed classes just for the sake of advancing me to the next grade. This is especially true in my Elementary years and Jr. High. In High School I became a little more attentive in learning some important ingredients.

    But I will say at most I never achieved above basic understanding of any subject in school.

    One such for example is that of Thermodynamics. Never was mentioned in my classes. However I also attended High school continuation. Maybe at the standard High school I may have had some mention on this. I did attend summer school however to make up for my credits.

    I want to ask about this Thermodynamics because it seems to be very important to know in Science. The best way for me to learn though is starting from basic and building on that. I have been a weight lifter off and on. I understand starting at low and building up to a higher number gradually. You can’t lift 300 pounds if your level is at 150 at the time.

    So will some of the others please start me out with some of the basic laws and understanding of Thermodynamics? Once I am able to grasp I will make more comments and try to ask more questions. We all have to start somewhere.

    I used to play a game Wordox. I got better by playing with better players than myself. Eventually I got pretty challenging in the game. It’s similar to scrabble only that you also need to steal words than just making them. Hoyle games had the best one. Hoyle closed down a number of years ago. It was the best game site I ever seen.

    So I just wanted to let you know I am not a High school drop out. But I have been stuck on the bottom for ages. Now I want to know more. I appreciate all help.
     
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  3. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Wikipedia?
     
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  5. AcrossSkylight Registered Member

    Messages:
    13
    This spider can't provide any of that helpful information. I'm here to post and discuss with others about science and other discusssions.
    Spider is pushing me to go elsewhere to try to figure all this out.

    I didn't grow up in a home with a father or brother teaching me to fix anything nor did anyone help me with my homework I was left on my own.
    But now I'm trying to learn what other researchers may know. This also helps me to understand the articles better.

    So now I'm asking what are the basic laws of thermodynamics?
     
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  7. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Warning

    Just don't believe anything wellwisher says about thermodynamics.
     
  8. Crunchy Cat F-in' *meow* baby!!! Valued Senior Member

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    8,423
    AcrossSkylight, I don't think you will find a science forum is a good substitute for a science education. Welcome aboard nonetheless.
     
  9. rodereve Registered Member

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    216
    Welcome aboard. There's one quality that is better than being naturally smart, and its having a thirst for knowledge.

    However, I don't think the best way to learn science is by listening in on other's discussions and trying to make the best of it from your own understanding. That's all secondary source, You gotta learn the basics by yourself, straight from the primary source (books).

    Just like the best way to work out is not by watching others do it in the gym and hopefully you get it. You gotta learn the proper techniques from a book or experts. You can't learn just by watching some joeschmoe do squats. Firstly, a lot of people do squats wrong (just like a lot of people have wrong assumptions in science). Secondly, a complete couch potato can't go straight to squats, he's got to improve his core balance,and lighter back exercises and thighs, or else they'll just fall over.

    Oh well, you gotta start somewhere. spidergoat wasn't kidding, Wikipedia actually is one of the best sources of information for the general public. I'd tell you to get a textbook, but its up to how much you want to learn. You can easily get a cheap year 2000 edition textbook and itd have 99% of the same material, the newer versions of biology textbooks are just made every year to rip off university students lol
     
  10. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    24,690
    Rod is right, but I would not dismiss the value of asking questions in a place such as this. But you have to be specific, not just "So will somebody please start me out by explaining the basic laws of thermodynamics?"

    The basic laws of thermodynamics may indeed be basic, but that does not mean they are simple. You need to understand that you are, in effect, asking us to condense a major portion of a second-year university physics course into a few posts on a message board. (Or maybe it's first year now. It's been fifty years since I took a university physics class.)

    Humor us and start by taking Spider's suggestion. Read the Wikipedia article on the four Laws of Thermodynamics. (In my day there were only three, but somebody inserted the "Zeroth Law" in front of them because it became obvious that the term "temperature" needs to be defined a lot more precisely than in Dictionary.com)

    This is a very condensed summary of the first lessons on this topic that you'd get in a university, but it's rather well-written and should be understandable to a really precocious high-school senior who took A.P. physics, or to anyone who is beyond that level. Tell us if you understand it. (And the way we'll know is by the topics and the quality of your questions!) If not, then please at least understand what you're asking here: for a bunch of people (very few of whom are professional physicists--I'm a teacher but this isn't what I teach) to do a job that would take a professor several weeks, using the medium of writing on a message board instead of talking!
     
  11. KitemanSA Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    624
    If you think of trading energy as a game called thermodynamics there are three rules you need to know about the game.
    1. You can't win.
    2. You can't break even.
    3. You can't even leave the game.
    These are the three laws of thermogoddamnics.
     

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