How the Laws of Thermodynamics Apply to Renewables – A Smile for Your Saturday
For those who may be trying to understand the principles of thermodynamics as they apply to renewable energy – but who may not wish to take the subject too seriously, here is the British comedy duo of yesteryear, Flanders & Swann, and their hilarious skit ‘First And Second Law.’
Thanks to our fabulous intern Rebecca McKenzie for sending it along. We have three interns (soon to be four) working on various projects, and we have a great time working together; of that I can assure you.
How ironic you should post a picture of the drinking bird. Shortly after I got out of the service I was working for a computer company in Horsham, PA. One of the guys I was working with was attending Drexel to get an EE degree. He was taking a thermodynamics course and having a very hard time understanding the physical realities of the math he was totally able to work. I happen to run across the drinking bird somewhere and thought it would help him so I bought it and took it into work and set it up. When he saw it he thought it was amusing and had no idea I was about to explain what the theory he was learning looked like in reality. I told him it was his theory in action. He looked at it for a good two minutes and couldn’t see the relation and asked me how it worked. I explained it to him and he spent another good two minutes watching it and you could suddenly see the lightbulb go on and he exclaimed a big loud “WOW!”. He went on to ace that class and maintain his straight A average.
What a beautiful story that is! I too have had successes in tutoring math and physics, but none that rival that one.