Abstract

Electrodynamics underlies special relativity, and electricity underlies electrodynamics. This paper shows, however, that the first and second laws of thermodynamics in fact, require the existence of electricity in nature. This interesting result can only be arrived at if the time rate of change of the particle thermal momentum is incorporated in thermodynamics, and the consequences are worked out. The outcome will be the novel thermodynamic formulation of generalized fields (TFGF). The TFGF allows calculating at equilibrium the change in entropy, (delta)s, per particle, across any interface, by a new method based on the first and second laws. But (delta)s can be calculated by classical methods. Equating the two values of (delta)s leads to a novel result: under conditions satisfied at almost all surfaces. membranes and other interfaces, there have to exist at such sites forces involving action-at-a-distance and other properties uniquely characteristic of electricity. This basic result explains many mysterious phenomena in nature and others previously explained by resorting to hypotheses ad hoc.