Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Thermodynamics and effective temperatures in sheared granular matter and emulsions
1Levich Institute and Physics Department, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA. makse@levdec.engr.ccny.cuny.edu
Abstract:
Recent theories postulate that the non-equilibrium behavior of systems experiencing jamming or structural arrest could be described by equilibrium thermodynamic concepts. If a thermodynamic framework can describe the behavior of systems far from equilibrium, then an effective temperature with a true thermodynamic meaning exists as a key parameter in characterizing the material's properties. In order to examine the validity of the thermodynamics for jammed systems, we perform a numerical experiment with a realistic granular matter model specially conceived to be reproducible in the laboratory. The results strongly support the thermodynamic picture.
More Related Videos
11:51Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
09:00Visualization of Failure and the Associated Grain-Scale Mechanical Behavior of Granular Soils under Shear using Synchrotron X-Ray Micro-Tomography
Published on: September 29, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Entropy
Entropy
When an ideal gas expands isothermally, the disorder in the gas increases. From the molecular perspective, the gas molecules have more volume to move around in.
Consider an infinitesimal step in the expansion, which...
Maxwell's Thermodynamic Relations
All thermodynamic potentials are exact differentials. Therefore, their second-order...
The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
The Thermodynamics of Mixing