Chapter hvac engineering Fundamentals: Part 1 Introduction

17.2
Thermodynamics Terms
One problem with understanding thermodynamics is that the basic
terms
energy
and
entropy
are defined in relatives rather than abso-
lutes.
Energy
can be reduced to the concepts of heat and work and can be
found in various forms: potential energy, kinetic energy, thermal or
internal energy, chemical energy, and nuclear energy.
Potential energy
is the energy of location or position of a mass in a
force field. A body or a volume of water at the top of a hill has potential
energy with respect to the bottom of the hill.
Source: HVAC Systems Design Handbook
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