It’s crucial to understand the difference between path-dependent and path-independent variables. In general Q and W are both dependent on the path taken between two end states. They are not properties of state.
About our tutor
Patrick Andrews has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Heriot-Watt University and an MSc in Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge.
A former Chartered Engineer and Chartered Mathematician, Patrick has worked in management consultancies and high-tech startups, and in academia as a postdoc in Applied Mathematics at Cambridge and a maths lecturer at De Montfort University.
Patrick is the father of three delightful (but not uniformly mathematical!) daughters.