- #31
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It should be remembered that temperature is a variable of macroscopic thermodynamics.
As such it performs well in use and is fit for purpose.
When you get to microscopic thermodynamics (which roughly equates to statistical thermodynamics) the concept of temperature becomes less and less useful the smaller you get, as does heat capacity and entropy. This comment also applies to thermodynamics of very sparsely populated systems.
What, for instance, is the temperature, entropy etc of a universe that consists of a single particle?
Associating a temperature with an energy is not possible even in macroscopic thermodynamics. If I move a brick from the floor to the table top in my room there is an energy change but no corresponding temperature change as a result.
As such it performs well in use and is fit for purpose.
When you get to microscopic thermodynamics (which roughly equates to statistical thermodynamics) the concept of temperature becomes less and less useful the smaller you get, as does heat capacity and entropy. This comment also applies to thermodynamics of very sparsely populated systems.
What, for instance, is the temperature, entropy etc of a universe that consists of a single particle?
Associating a temperature with an energy is not possible even in macroscopic thermodynamics. If I move a brick from the floor to the table top in my room there is an energy change but no corresponding temperature change as a result.