Specific Heat at Constant Volume, Degrees of Freedom

This lecture covers the concept of specific heat at constant volume for ideal gases, introducing the notion of degrees of freedom as the number of independent ways energy can be stored in a system. It explains how the energy depends on quadratic variables and provides examples for particles in different dimensions. The lecture also discusses the specific heat for monoatomic and diatomic gases, highlighting the relationship between specific heat at constant pressure and constant volume. Furthermore, it delves into the energy internal of perfect gases, emphasizing the importance of temperature in determining the internal energy. The presentation concludes with the first law of Joule, stating that for ideal gases, internal energy is solely a function of temperature.