Caloric theory - History

The caloric theory of heat is an obsolete scientific theory in thermodynamics, developed mostly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Caloric theory - History. In the history of thermodynamics, the initial explanations of heat were thoroughly confused with explanations of combustion. After J. J. Becher and Georg Ernst Stahl introduced the phlogiston theory of combustion in the 17th century, phlogiston was thought to be the substance of heat. The calorific theory was introduced by Antoine ...

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• Caloric theory - History
• Caloric theory - Theory
• Caloric theory - Successes
• Caloric theory - Demise
• Caloric theory - Significance in the philosophy of science
• Caloric theory - Notes

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In the history of thermodynamics, the initial explanations of heat were thoroughly confused with explanations of combustion. After J. J. Becher and Georg Ernst Stahl introduced the phlogiston theory of combustion in the 17th century, phlogiston was thought to be the substance of heat. The calorific theory was introduced by Antoine Lavoisier. Lavoisier had discovered the explanation of combustion in terms of oxygen in the 1770s. In his book Reflexions sur le phlogistique (1783), Lavoisier argued that phlogiston theory was inconsistent with his experimental results, and proposed ca ...

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Caloric theory, Caloric theory - History, Caloric theory - Theory, Caloric theory - Successes, Caloric theory - Demise, Caloric theory - Significance in the philosophy of science, Caloric theory - Notes

Read more here: » Caloric theory: Encyclopedia II - Caloric theory - History

In 1798, Count Rumford published An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Source of the Heat which is Excited by Friction, a report on his investigation of the heat produced while manufacturing cannons. He had found that boring a cannon repeatedly does not result in a loss of its ability to produce heat, and therefore no loss of caloric. This suggested that caloric could not be a conserved "substance" though the experimental uncertainti ...

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Caloric theory, Caloric theory - History, Caloric theory - Theory, Caloric theory - Successes, Caloric theory - Demise, Caloric theory - Significance in the philosophy of science, Caloric theory - Notes

Read more here: » Caloric theory: Encyclopedia II - Caloric theory - Demise

The theory held that changes in temperature are due to the transfer of an imponderable fluid, invisible and weightless, called caloric. The theory originally hinged on two key assumptions: That heat was a 'self-repulsive' (or 'elastic', or 'expansive') substance, while it was attracted to ordinary matter; and That temperature was the density of caloric^{See also:}

Caloric theory, Caloric theory - History, Caloric theory - Theory, Caloric theory - Successes, Caloric theory - Demise, Caloric theory - Significance in the philosophy of science, Caloric theory - Notes

Read more here: » Caloric theory: Encyclopedia II - Caloric theory - Theory

Quite a number of successful explanations can be, and were, made from these hypotheses alone. We can understand why a cup of tea cools at room temperature: caloric is self-repelling, and thus slowly flows from regions dense in caloric (the hot water) to regions less dense in caloric (the cooler air in the room). We can explain the expansion of air under heat: caloric is absorbed into the molecules of air, which increases its volume. If we say a little more about what happens to caloric during this absorption phenomenon, we can explain the radiation of heat, the state changes of matter under various temperat ...

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Caloric theory, Caloric theory - History, Caloric theory - Theory, Caloric theory - Successes, Caloric theory - Demise, Caloric theory - Significance in the philosophy of science, Caloric theory - Notes

Read more here: » Caloric theory: Encyclopedia II - Caloric theory - Successes