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Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics  is a branch of  physics  concerned with  heat and  temperature  and their relation to  energy  and  work . It defines macroscopic  variables, such as  internal energy ,  entropy , and pressure , that partly describe a body of matter or  radiation . It states that the behavior of those variables is subject to general constraints, that are common to all materials, not the peculiar properties of particular materials. These general constraints are expressed in the four laws of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics describes the bulk behavior of the body, not the microscopic behaviors of the very large numbers of its microscopic constituents, such as molecules. The basic results of thermodynamics rely on the existence of idealized states of thermodynamic equilibrium . Its laws are explained by  statistical mechanics , in terms of the microscopic constituents. Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics in  science and  engineering , especially  physical chemistry ,  ch