Thermal Physics

Compression of gas within bicycle pump heats gas; alternatively, syringe PV=nRT (w/ Mac TC read-out).

What it shows:

An adiabatic process is one where no heat enters or leaves a system. Here we compress a gas adiabatically inside a bicycle pump. The work...

Dropping bag containing lead turns gravitational potential energy to heat.

What it shows: 

A demonstration of the conversion of gravitational potential energy to heat energy. A bag of lead shot, repeatedly dropped to the ground, will heat up.

How it works: 

L...

What it shows:

Here we set up a convection cycle, where we heat part of a fluid; it expands, rises, then cools and sinks. A two dimensional model for real convection cycles in the atmosphere, oceans or stellar interiors.

How it works:

The convection cell...

What it Shows

Hot fluid rises, cool fluid sinks. Here is a desktop convection cell modeling the processes in the atmosphere, oceans or stellar interiors.

How it Works

The currents are set up in rheoscopic fluid^[1] (basically minute aluminum flakes in...

What it shows:

The demonstration shows density fluctuations in liquids. These fluctuations are particularly spectacular near critical points. A binary fluid mixture of methanol (29% by weight) and cyclohexane (71%) becomes opalescent when heated up to its...

The microcystaline structure of a steel wire changes from body-centered-cubic to face-centered-cubic as it is heated to red-hot.

What it shows:

Iron atoms are arranged in a body-centered cubic pattern (BCC) up to 1180 K. Above this temperature it makes a...

Room temperature water boils in an evacuated bell jar and then freezes due to rapid surface evaporation.

Three-dimensional plaster model of PVT relationships. Other versions exist, one by J.C.Maxwell and shown here.

Images of the plaster phase surface of water.

Observation of phase changes with corresponding pressure changes.

A two ml. plastic microcentrifuge vial and a small shop vise are used together to melt dry ice.

Wear safety glasses for this demo. The vial can explode, or shoot out of the vice, from the...

CO₂ and He balloons in liquid nitrogen.

What it shows:

Cooling a gas causes a proportional decrease in volume with the drop in absolute temperature. A gas such as helium, which remains close to ideal at low temperatures, shows a four-fold decrease in volume...