Some Modifications in Continuum Thermodynamics and their Applications

The continuum thermodynamics is one of the foundations of the continuum mechanics. In this paper some modifications in thermodynamics and their applications will be given. It is found that the first law of thermodynamics includes energy conservation law and physical variational principle. The physical variational principle is also a basic physical law and can be used to derive the governing equations in mechanics and physics. The accelerative variation of the temperature needs the extra heat which will produce the inertial entropy. Applying the inertial entropy theory the temperature wave equation with finite phase velocity is obtained.