CHAPTER 1

Temperature and the Zeroth Law of

Thermodynami

1.1 MACROSCOPIC POINT OF VIEW

The study of any special branch of natural science starts with a separation
of a
restricted region of space or a finite portion of matter from its
surroundings
by means of a closed surface called the boundary. The region within
the
arbitrary boundary and on which the attention is focused is called the
system,
and everything outside the system that has a direct bearing on the
system's
behavior is known as the surroundings, which could be another system. If
no
matter crosses the boundary, then the system is closed; but if there is
an
exchange of matter between system and surroundings, then the system is
open.
When a system has been chosen, the next step is to describe it in terms of
quantities related to the behavior of the system or its interactions with
the
surroundings, or both. There are, in general, two points of view that may
be
adopted: the macroscopic point of view and the microscopic point of view.
The
macroscopic point of view considers variables or characteristics of a system
at

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 approximately the human scale, or larger; whereas the microscopic point
of
view considers variables or characteristics of a system at approximately
the
molecular scale, or smaller.
Let us take as a system the contents in a cylinder of an automobile
engine.
A chemical analysis would show a mixture of hydrocarbons and air
before being ignited, and after the mixture has been ignited there would be
combustion products describable in terms of new chemical compounds.
A statement of the amounts of these chemicals describes both the mass
and the composition of the system. At any moment, the system can be
described further by specifying the volume, which varies as the piston
moves in the cylinder. The volume can be easily measured and, in the
laboratory, is recorded automatically by means of a device coupled to
the piston. Another quantity that is indispesable