Picturing the thermodynamic universe with Frida Kahlo

Abstract

Bringing arts to the science classes remains as a challenging idea. The illustration of a concept with an original painting would bring unexpected advantages. Here we present the use of a painting of Frida Kahlo to illustrate the concept of the thermodynamic universe the surroundings. Such concept is not deeply treated in most textbooks, and it is essential now of analysis of a thermodynamic system. Because of the use of this visual aid, our students were able to distinguish several possible thermodynamic universes, depending on the objective of their study, gaining a more insightful approach than that usually obtained with classical pictographic representations in physical chemistry textbooks.