Episode Details

Heat feels like the most ordinary thing in the world, yet the science of it — thermodynamics — turns out to be one of the deepest and most far-reaching in all of physics, governing engines, refrigerators, living cells and the fate of the universe itself. This episode untangles heat from temperature, explains what “absolute zero” really means, and lays out the handful of simple laws that nothing in nature is allowed to break.

You'll come away understanding the difference between heat and temperature, what is actually moving when something warms up, why energy always spreads out, how engines and fridges exploit these rules, and why the laws of thermodynamics are among the most reliable in science.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: Feynman Lectures on Physics – “The Laws of Thermodynamics”; NASA – “What is heat?”; Royal Institution – lectures on energy and entropy.