HEAT-WORK EQUIVALENCE

The SI unit of energy is the Joule. A Joule equals a Newton times a meter. In thermodynamics there is the observation that one Joule of heat energy produces less than one Joule of work energy, as P-V work of an expanding gas in a piston-cylinder type of P-V work system. The observed deficit is attributed to entropy in the thermodynamic system in question. The ratio of work energy produced, to heat energy input in to a closed system, is known in thermodynamics as the so-called "mechanical equivalent of heat". The mechanical equivalent of heat is a dimensionless quantity that comes out of thermodynamics and it has the same value in any consistent set of units employed in its calculation. As such a dimensionless physical number, the mechanical equivalent of heat may potentially be amenable to factorization in to a product or composite ratio involving the more familiar mathematical constants such a "e" the base of natural logarithms, and "pi" the familiar circular constant, and "phi" the golden ratio...or some other mathematical constants. I intend to look for such a mathematical basis for the mechanical equivalent of heat some time in the future.