16.050 | Fall 2002 | Undergraduate

Thermal Energy

Course Description

This course is taught in four main parts. The first is a review of fundamental thermodynamic concepts (e.g. energy exchange in propulsion and power processes), and is followed by the second law (e.g. reversibility and irreversibility, lost work). Next are applications of thermodynamics to engineering systems (e.g. …
This course is taught in four main parts. The first is a review of fundamental thermodynamic concepts (e.g. energy exchange in propulsion and power processes), and is followed by the second law (e.g. reversibility and irreversibility, lost work). Next are applications of thermodynamics to engineering systems (e.g. propulsion and power cycles, thermo chemistry), and the course concludes with fundamentals of heat transfer (e.g. heat exchange in aerospace devices).
Learning Resource Types
Problem Sets
Exams
Lecture Notes
An h-s diagram of a non-ideal Brayton cycle and a simplified gas turbine schematic.
An h-s diagram of a non-ideal Brayton cycle and a simplified gas turbine schematic. (Image courtesy of MIT OpenCourseWare.)