1. Thermodynamics describes the transfer of heat and work in systems involving temperature, pressure, and volume. The four laws of thermodynamics describe the behavior of these properties.
2. The first law states that the internal energy of a system can be changed through heat or work. The change in internal energy of a system is equal to the heat transferred plus the work done.
3. The second law states that heat cannot spontaneously flow from a colder location to a hotter location without an external work being performed. Entropy accounts for how disorder increases over time as energy is transferred or distributed within a system.