Crash Course Engineering

The First & Zeroth Laws of Thermodynamics

In today’s episode we’ll explore thermodynamics and some of the ways it shows up in our daily lives. We’ll learn the zeroth law of thermodynamics, what it means to reach a thermal equilibrium, and define the first law of thermodynamics. We’ll also explore how stationary, adiabatic, and isochoric processes can make our lives as engineers a little easier.

The First & Zeroth Laws of Thermodynamics

10m 5s

  • Metals & Ceramics: Crash Course Engineering #19: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Metals & Ceramics: Crash Course Engineering #19

    S1 E19 - 10m 3s

    Today we’ll explore more about two of the three main types of materials that we use as engineers: metals and ceramics. We’ll discuss properties of metals, alloys, ceramics, clay, cement, and glass-ceramic materials. We’ll also look at the applications of our materials with microelectromechanical systems and accelerometers.

  • Reaching breaking point: Materials, Stresses, and Toughness:: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Reaching breaking point: Materials, Stresses, and Toughness:

    S1 E18 - 11m 23s

    Today we’re going to start thinking about materials that are used in engineering. We’ll look at mechanical properties of materials, stress-strain diagrams, elasticity and toughness, and describe other material properties like hardness, creep strength, and fatigue strength.

  • Mass Separation: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Mass Separation

    S1 E17 - 11m 16s

    Engineers use three processes to separate chemicals: distillation, which separates substances based on their different boiling points; liquid-liquid extraction, which uses differences in solubility to transfer a contaminant into a solvent; and reverse osmosis, which filters molecules from a solvent by pressurizing it through a semipermeable barrier.

WETA Passport

Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.