studiot

Yes the practical approach of the victorian physicists and engineers who introduced and defined these ideas did not address the problem of the boundary. If you divide things into the system and the environment (= that which is not the system) there must be a boundary between the two. Now the nature of boundary problem is the question "Are the boundary elements part of the system or the environment?" The point is they are neither wholly in either, but possess some affinity for both. This is similar to the question of open v closed intervals or neighbourhoods in pure mathematics. The only logical conclusion I can come to is that a truly isolated system has no boundary. In many cases we can dismiss the boundary as insignificant, but the issue becomes significant if our system is all boundary as in the case of surface tension. go well Thank you for the friends communication. I am very new here and still trying to understand the system.

1) I agree that number of participating particles is not necessarilly preserved. 2) The idea of an isolated system is seductively attractive. But is the statement "Does not interact in any way" a bit strong? Even a complete vacuum devoid of any matter has a characteristic impedence of 377 ohms and interacts with EM radiation through this.

One of the key aspects of foundation years is not about the subject itself but about accessing learning resources. This is especially important for those who have been away from the academic world for some years. Scientific disciplines are now individually so vast that no university first course can attempt a comprehensive coverage. All courses restrict their areas of coverage - so find out which courses cover your interests. Finally I recommend you get hold of the book (library?) The Mathematical Mechanic By Merk Levi Don't be put off by the title it is a splendid and refreshing book with many physics based 'proofs' or demonstrations of otherwise dry maths introductory level. Go well in your endeavours.

Some strategies. 1) Look in the library at textbooks and see which universities the authors are from. 2) Some UK universities publish series in Physics, for instance The University of Manchester, The University of Surrey (and of course Oxbridge). 3) Famous non textbook publishing physics deparments include Liverpool and Edinburgh. A word of warning, however. The maths at the first league deparments is very tough. Second league departments tend to be more applied and practical. I know of several transfers because a student found the going too (deeply) mathematical.