Template:Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is a study of the laws governing the transformation of heat energy to and from other forms of energy, thus of the efficient design and working of heat engines (such as the gas engine and the steam engine). Its 3+1 laws are as follows:

• First law: No form of energy can be created or destroyed but may be transformed from one to another. Therefore the total energy in the universe remains the same.
• Second law: It is impossible for heat to travel from an object at a lower temperature to another object at a higher temperature. Stated by the German physicist Rudolf Clausius (1822-1888) in two parts as, "Heat cannot be transferred from one body to a second body at a higher temperature without producing some effect," and "The entropy of a closed system increases with time."
• Third law: It is impossible to reduce any system to a level of absolute temperature or 0 Kelvin (-273.15°C or -459.67°F).
• Zeroth law of thermodynamics (that underlies all the above laws): If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, all three systems are in thermal equilibrium with one another.

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Thermodynamics-its system and processes

A definite quantity of matter bounded by some closed surface is known as a system and anything outside the system which can exchange energy with the system has a direct bearing on the behavior of the system is called surrounding

In thermodynamics, there are three common systems,

Isolated Systems

If a system is not influenced in any way by it’s surrounding, it is said to be isolated”. An isolated system exchanges neither matter nor energy with its surroundings. e.g. tea in a thermos flask

Closed Systems

System which can exchange only energy (not matter) with surrounding are known as a closed system” e.g. tea in a cup covered with a lid.

Open Systems

Systems which can exchange both matter & energy with surrounding are known as open systems” e.g. tea in a cup.