Elementary remarks on the ambiguous explanation of pressure in chemical thermodynamics

Yukio Kobayashi

Soka University

At the collegiate level of chemical thermodynamics, action-reaction pairs are not explicitly described, which results in an ambiguous explanation of the procedures to vary the volume of a system. Pedagogically, it is essential to specify not only the magnitude of forces, but also the object that applies the force and the object that experiences the force. The physical meanings of some of the equations in thermodynamics should be explained in terms of elementary mechanics. From these viewpoints, it is indispensable to combine physics education and chemical education at an elementary level of science teaching.