CONCEPT Heat is a form of energy—specifically, the energy that flows between two bodies because of differences in temperature. Therefore, the scientific definition of heat is different from, and more precise than, the everyday meaning. Physicists working in the area of thermodynamics study heat from a number of perspectives, including specific heat, or the amount […]
CONCEPT Thermodynamics is the study of the relationships between heat, work, and energy. Though rooted in physics, it has a clear application to chemistry, biology, and other sciences: in a sense, physical life itself can be described as a continual thermodynamic cycle of transformations between heat and energy. But these transformations are never perfectly efficient, […]