General Description of the Software Product
The software package «Thermodynamics and Molecular Physics» includes 13 virtual laboratory works from the general physics course for students of higher and secondary educational institutions.
List of virtual labs:
1. Internal Energy and Mechanical Work
2. Internal Energy and Electrical Work
3. Boyle’s Law
4. Amontons’ Law
5. Adiabatic Index of Air
6. Real Gases and Critical Point
7. Leslie Cube
8. Heat Conduction
9. Thermal Expansion of Solid Bodies
10. Water Anomaly
11. Stirling Engine D
12. Stirling Engine G
13. Heat Pumps
Target computing device type and platform supported: IBM-compatible personal computer running Microsoft Windows.
Additionally, the package includes a web version of the virtual laboratory (HTML-5 platform), designed to be uploaded to the server of an educational organization in order to conduct remote classes with students.
The graphics component of the software uses the OpenGL 2.0 component base. The graphical user interface of the program is implemented in English.
Minimum System Requirements
- Processor clock speed: at least 2 GHz
- RAM: at least 4 GB
- Video memory: at least 512 MB
- Screen resolution: at least 1024x768x32
- OpenGL version 2.0 support
- DirectX version 9.0.c support (for Windows)
- Standard keyboard and computer mouse with scroll wheel (for PC)
- Audio playback devices (audio speakers or headphones)
To work with the web version of the virtual laboratory, you must use a web browser that supports WebGL 3D graphics, for example, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Mozilla Firefox. The HTML components of the web version must be uploaded to a physical server. If you need to use a local server, it is recommended to use the XAMPP (Apache) assembly.
Types of Licensing
The Virtual Lab is supplied only for educational organizations with installation on an unlimited number of places (corporate license).
1. Internal Energy and Mechanical Work
Goals: measurement of body temperature depending on the number of revolutions using a friction cord; study of the proportionality between temperature change and the work of friction force; verification of the first law of thermodynamics; determination of the specific heat capacity of the material.
2. Internal Energy and Electrical Work
Goals: temperature measurement of aluminum and copper bodies depending on the perfect electrical work; demonstration of the proportionality of temperature changes to electrical work; verification of the first law of thermodynamics; determination of specific heat capacities of copper and aluminum.
3. Boyle's Law
Goals: measurement of closed air pressure at constant temperature for different piston positions and different amounts of air; display of measured values in the form of a p-V diagram; verification of Boyle’s law.
4. Amontons' Law
Goals: measurement of closed air pressure depending on temperature; plotting the measured values on the p-T diagram; verification of Amonton’s law.
5. Adiabatic Index of Air
Goals: measuring the oscillation period of the aluminum piston; determination of the equilibrium pressure in a closed volume of air; determination of the air adiabatic index and comparison of the result with the value indicated in the literature.
6. Real Gases and Critical Point
Goals: observation of sulphur hexafluoride in both liquid and gaseous states; plotting isotherms in the form of a p-V diagram; determination of the critical point.
7. Leslie Cube
Goals: determination of radiation from Leslie cube using a Moll thermopile; measuring the intensity of heat emitted by four different surfaces in relation to each other, depending on the temperature; confirmation that the radiation intensity is proportional to the temperature to the fourth power.
8. Heat Conduction
Goals: determining the change in temperature over time along the length of a metal rod, which heats up on one side, but remains cold on the other, both in a dynamic and in a stationary state; determination of the heat flow value; determination of the thermal conductivity of the material from which the rod is made.
9. Thermal Expansion of Solid Bodies
Goals: measurement of thermal expansion along the length for tubes made of various materials; determination of the coefficients of linear expansion for the materials under study and their comparison with the values indicated in the literature.
10. Water Anomaly
Goals: measurement of thermal expansion of water in the temperature range from 0 to 15 °C; demonstration of thermal anomaly; determination of temperature at the maximum density of water.
11. Stirling Engine D
Goals: study of the principle of operation of the Stirling engine as a heat engine; measurement of no-load speed depending on thermal power.
12. Stirling Engine G
Goals: study of the principle of operation of a gamma-type Stirling engine; demonstration of the heat engine operation in various modes; plotting p-V diagram of the engine cycle; determination of mechanical power associated with a full cycle.
13. Heat Pumps
Goals: demonstration of the operation of an electric compression heat pump; quantitative assessment of the ongoing cyclic process; construction of empirical dependences of temperature, pressure and electrical power.
