29/07/2025

MLL103: Introduction to the

Thermodynamics of Materials

MLL103
Introduction to the Thermodynamics of
Materials
Lecture 1: 29-07-2025
T Th F – 11:00 am-12:00 pm

Prof. Sangeeta Santra

Department of Materials Science and Engineering
IIT Delhi
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Classroom Tutorial slot:

Tutorial hours Friday

Time slot: 1-2 pm

3-1-0
Classroom: IV 323

Classroom Lecture hours

LH519 (11 am-12 pm)

Course evaluation August end/Sept 1st week,

Class Oct end
performance:
Quiz (2): 15%
10%

Tutorial: 20%
Minor exam: 25%
12th – 17th Sept., 2024

Major exam: 30%

18th – 23rd Nov., 2024

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Grading scheme
>90 You're nearly perfect, low in entropy, high in effort, an A well-deserved!
Still high-grade, A- you get, some defects in the lattice, but strong is your
80-90
status!
Great! Thermo you don’t hate; happy or sad to see a B? You're diffusing
70-80
at a decent rate!
B- , Boltzmann would sigh; too many microstates, so entropy climbs
60-70
high!
Grade C, metastable at best; one thermal shock, and you'll phase-shift
50-60
with the rest!
C- stress and grain boundaries grown wide; Energy’s high, but you still
40-50
survived!
D grade, stuck below the bar; Like poor mixing in alloys, no phases do
30-40
spar.

Tentative
Sr. no. Topics
hours
State, equilibrium, heat, work, system, surrounding; extensive, intensive properties;
1. Concepts reversible, irreversible processes; various thermodynamic processes; derivatives, partial 4
derivatives
Zeroth law (Temperature); First law of thermodynamics (internal energy); Second law of
2. Laws of
thermodynamics (Entropy); Third law of thermodynamics; Specific heat; Statistical 8
thermodynamics
interpretation of entropy, disorder; microstate and macrostate
Auxiliary functions: Helmholtz free energy, Gibbs free energy, Chemical potential; Various
thermodynamic partial derivatives and their relations. Maxwell’s relations, Gibbs-
3. Relations 11
Helmholtz equations; Clausius-Clapeyron equation; Phase stability for closed and open
systems; unary and multicomponent systems; Gibbs free energy-composition relations
4. Solutions Raoult’s and Henry’s Law, activity of a component; Ideal solution; Gibbs-Duhem equation 4
Regular solutions; Sievert’s Law, dilute solutions and interaction parameters; equilibrium
constant, reaction equilibria for (a) homogeneous reactions consisting of gas mixtures,
5. Non-ideal solutions 9
(b) heterogeneous reactions consisting of condensed phases and gas mixtures; Ellingham
diagram; statistical models for binary metallic solution; thermodynamic mixing functions
6. Ternary systems Basic ternary diagrams, Gibbs energy surfaces; solidification path 3
7. Interfaces Surface energy 1
8. Thermocalc
Thermodynamic assessment: Hands-on 2
software

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Books

Departmental
attendance policy

Students with attendance

below 75% will receive a one-
grade reduction in their final
course grade.

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Recommendation Letter:
Only if you work with me on any project
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Introduction

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Do ‘diamonds’ last forever?

• Thermodynamics tells us the destination (graphite is lower in free energy),

but kinetics decides how slow/fast we get there.

• Activation energy required for the conversion is extremely high. This

means that although the conversion is thermodynamically favourable,
the energy barrier for the reaction is so high that it's virtually impossible
for it to occur at RT within a reasonable timeframe.

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• Certain things cannot be altered just by changing temperature, you need pressure.

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19.0760° N, 72.8777° E

18.7544° N, 73.4092° E

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• State function: Property whose value does not depend on the path taken

• Path function: Property whose value depends on the path taken

• State variable:

A state function in thermodynamics is defined by a set of independent

state variables.

A state function is defined by the values of the state variables at a

given point.

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• Time-consuming process
• Non-spontaneous process: Input of energy
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Steel vs. Glass

Which one is more ordered at room temperature: a
piece of glass or a piece of steel?

Entropy of a disordered system is higher—entropy drives the glassy state under

fast cooling.

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What do you mean by ‘Thermodynamics’?

How will you explain temperature?

What is one material you want to understand

better by the end of the course?

What do you expect to learn from this course?

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