[BLANK_AUDIO]. Welcome to Basic Physical Chemistry. My name is Jonathan Agar, and for the next two weeks, I'm going to be teaching you Thermodynamics. The science of thermodynamics was born of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and early 1800s. You have to imagine that up to that point, all heavy duty work was performed by horses. Indeed to this day, we still use horsepower as a measure of the rate at which work is performed. The industrial revolution was all about the development and exploitation of a fantastic new invention, the heat engine. Heat engines use fuel to heat a working substance, usually a liquid or a gas, to high temperature. The working substance then generates mechanical work in the body of the engine, while transferring heat to a cold sink. Thermodynamics was developed to gain the maximum efficiency from such heat engines, and the science was so successful, that in a very short space of time, steam engines completely transformed the world, from transportation, to manufacturing, to agriculture. Out of the science of thermodynamics arose four fundamental laws that govern the interrelation and interconversion of heat energy and mechanical energy. We're going to study those four laws in detail. And in doing so, we're going to learn about concepts such as temperature, internal energy, enthalpy, entropy, and gives energy. Despite thermodynamics clearly being of immense practical importance, it is often perceived by undergraduates as quite abstract, with concepts that are difficult to grasp. My aim in these lectures is to clearly explain such concepts, and hopefully give you a feel for the useful nature of this highly important science. Modern day heat engines, such as the one found in the world's fastest production car, the Bugatti Veyron, are testament to the progress we've made since the early days of the steam engine. In 1829, Stevenson's famous rocket set the world land speed record at 35 miles an hour. Today, the Veyron produces 883 kilowatts, a 1,184 brake horsepower, and has a top speed of 268 miles per hour. With regard to the structure of the costs, there are a series of video lectures to watch each week, ranging from around 5 to 15 minutes in length. There is a formative, ten question, multiple choice test to complete each week, in order to gain feedback on your progress. At the end of the course, there is an assessed, ten question multiple choice test. There is also a virtual practical view to try, in which you will use a chemical reaction to calibrate a calorimeter, and then use the calorimeter to determine the heat released in the second chemical reaction. The practical will also be assessed. If you have questions, then feel free to discuss them on the forum. Teaching assistants will be there to help you, and I shall visit the forums regularly. It just reminds me to wish you good luck with the course, and I hope you enjoy it.