Free online courseThermodynamics and Statistical Physics

Course Description

Build a clear, confident understanding of how heat, work, energy and temperature shape the physical world in this free online course on thermodynamics and statistical physics. You will move beyond memorizing formulas and learn to reason from first principles: what temperature really measures, why absolute zero matters, and how microscopic motion connects to macroscopic behavior. Along the way, you will develop the intuition to interpret processes on PV diagrams, predict how systems respond to heating or compression, and explain everyday phenomena using the laws of thermodynamics.

The course starts with the foundations of thermal physics, including specific heat capacity and kinetic theory, then guides you through the first and second laws, isochoric and adiabatic changes, and the meaning of key constraints such as constant volume or no heat transfer. You will also learn to work with heat capacities at constant pressure and constant volume and understand the relationships between them, helping you choose the right model when solving problems. As you progress, thermodynamic potentials bring a powerful perspective for analyzing equilibrium and spontaneous change, and idealized engines such as the Carnot cycle reveal the hard limits on efficiency that every real machine must obey.

After the macroscopic viewpoint is secure, statistical physics opens the door to a deeper explanation: how microstates, entropy, and probability lead to the laws you observe in bulk matter. You will see how Gibbs entropy and the Boltzmann distribution organize equilibrium behavior, and how the partition function becomes a central tool for extracting thermodynamic quantities. From there, you will connect statistics to materials and modern physics topics, including equipartition, quantum gases, fermions versus bosons, Bose-Einstein condensation, and models of solids that explain heat capacity and excitations such as phonons.

With practice questions integrated throughout, you can test understanding as you learn, strengthen problem-solving habits, and prepare for school or early university physics. By the end, you will be able to translate between microscopic models and measurable properties, reason about phase behavior and transitions, and interpret landmark ideas such as Planck’s resolution of the ultraviolet catastrophe and the statistical origins of magnetism and superconductivity.