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Related Concept Videos

Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium01:11

Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium

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Heat and temperature are essential concepts for everyone every day. The study of heat and temperature is part of an area of physics known as thermodynamics. It is not always easy to distinguish heat and temperature.
The concept of temperature has evolved from the common concepts of hot and cold. The scientific definition of temperature explains more than just our sense of hot and cold. Temperature is operationally defined as the quantity measured with a thermometer. Furthermore, temperature is...
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Isothermal Processes01:21

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A thermodynamic process that occurs at constant temperature is called an isothermal process. Heat slowly flows into the system or out of the system to maintain thermal equilibrium. Processes involving phase changes like water evaporation into steam or freezing water into ice at a constant temperature are examples of Isothermal Processes.
An ideal gas can also undergo isothermal expansion or compression.
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The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics01:14

The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

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Systems in mechanical equilibrium exert equal pressure on the separating wall. Similarly, systems in thermal equilibrium share a common thermodynamic property: temperature.Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles within a system. More generally, it reflects the internal energy state of the system. The higher the temperature, the more energy a system has, given that other variables, such as volume and pressure, remain constant. However, temperature is not a form of...
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Equation of State01:07

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The equation of state is an equation that relates physical quantities, such as pressure, volume, temperature, and the number of moles, of a thermodynamics system with each other. The equation relating physical quantities with each other can be a simple mathematical expression or too complicated to express in mathematical form. In either case, a relationship between physical quantities exists. If the equation of state cannot be expressed in a mathematical form, then experimental data and...
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Thermodynamic Systems01:06

Thermodynamic Systems

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A thermodynamic system is a set of objects whose thermodynamic properties are of interest. The system is considered to be embedded in its surroundings or the environment. The system and its environment can exchange heat and do work on each other through a boundary that separates them. However, the immediate surroundings of the system interact with it directly and therefore have a much stronger influence on its behavior and properties.
Consider an example of  tea boiling in a kettle. The...
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Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing02:39

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

15.5K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
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A Simple Dewar/Cryostat for Thermally Equilibrating Samples at Known Temperatures for Accurate Cryogenic Luminescence Measurements
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Napoleon Is in Equilibrium.

Rob Phillips1

  • 1Department of Applied Physics and Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125; phillips@pboc.caltech.edu; Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie Théorique, CNRS/UMR 7083-ESPCI, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.

Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics
|July 19, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Statistical mechanics offers a powerful framework for understanding complex cellular processes, including cell signaling and regulation. This approach provides quantitative predictions and insights, even for biological systems far from equilibrium.

Keywords:
MWC modelallosterybiophysicsgene regulationtranscription

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Systems Biology
  • Theoretical Biology

Background:

  • The cell is a complex biological system with dynamic processes.
  • Traditional theoretical tools struggle to keep pace with experimental biological advances.
  • Statistical mechanics has proven effective in describing various cellular phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the application and power of statistical mechanics in biological systems.
  • To emphasize the use of statistical mechanical models in cell signaling and regulation.
  • To demonstrate how these models generate testable predictions.

Main Methods:

  • Application of statistical mechanics principles to cellular processes.
  • Development of quantitative models for cell communication and organization.
  • Comparison of model predictions with experimental data.

Main Results:

  • Statistical mechanics provides a useful theoretical framework for biological systems, even those not at equilibrium.
  • Models based on statistical mechanics can accurately predict cellular behaviors.
  • Experimental validation supports the utility of these models in cell signaling and regulation.

Conclusions:

  • Statistical mechanics is a valuable tool for quantitatively describing cellular functions.
  • The approach is particularly relevant for understanding cell signaling and regulation.
  • Model limitations are considered based on timescale separations.