Didactic Tools for Use in a Basic Course of Thermodynamics

This paper analyses the objectives and characteristics of two applications oriented to help in the teaching of an introductory thermodynamics course in an engineering curriculum. They are centered on the analysis of the first and second laws by connecting graphics with energy or entropy balances and providing a tool for solving power and refrigeration cycles and other types of small plants normally included in such a course. In these applications we place special emphasis on the use of graphic tools with a very comfortable human-machine interface in order to improve both the motivation and the efficacy of students while working with these materials. Both of them run on Macintosh® computers.