Abstract Taking Carnot cycle as the main line, centralized teaching of thermodynamics related content is discussed through introducing the background, the specific cycle steps, the Carnot's principle and its corollary, and the deducing of entropy and the Clausius inequality. Practice indicates coherent deduction of knowledge from the first law of thermodynamics to the second law can be strengthened by this teaching approach. Therefore, it not only broadens the students' minds, but also benefits them to master the related knowledge systematically.
