The study of thermodynamics is the study of systems that are too large to understand by mechanics alone. For many years, thermodynamics was understood vaguely, and many of the results had been determined only experimentally. Some results posed great theoretical challenges to physicists, who offered many unsuccessful attempts at explaining the origins of the formulas.
With the advent of quantum mechanics came the explanations for the results. The mechanics of individual particles is still too complicated, however. For this reason, statistical physics plays a significant role in the basis o…
