Lecture

Thermodynamics: Second Law

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Description

This lecture covers the concepts of temperature, entropy, the second law of thermodynamics, reversibility, irreversibility, and the harmonic oscillator. It explains the relationship between temperature and entropy, the conditions for entropy production, and the distinction between reversible and irreversible processes.

In MOOC

Thermodynamics II

The aim of the course is to enable students to understand and apply the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics. After presenting the first and second principles of thermodynamics, the lecture will address questions of irreversibility and thermodynamic potentials. After establishing these conceptual foundations, which are the subject of the first part, their engineering applications, such as heat transfer, calorimetry and phase transitions, will be covered. Next, we'll look at the conversion of chemical en

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Thermodynamics: Statistical mechanics

Related concepts (32)

Entropy

Entropy is a scientific concept, as well as a measurable physical property, that is most commonly associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodynamics, where it was first recognized, to the microscopic description of nature in statistical physics, and to the principles of information theory.

Second law of thermodynamics

The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on universal experience concerning heat and energy interconversions. One simple statement of the law is that heat always moves from hotter objects to colder objects (or "downhill"), unless energy in some form is supplied to reverse the direction of heat flow. Another definition is: "Not all heat energy can be converted into work in a cyclic process." The second law of thermodynamics in other versions establishes the concept of entropy as a physical property of a thermodynamic system.

Irreversible process

In science, a process that is not reversible is called irreversible. This concept arises frequently in thermodynamics. All complex natural processes are irreversible, although a phase transition at the coexistence temperature (e.g. melting of ice cubes in water) is well approximated as reversible. In thermodynamics, a change in the thermodynamic state of a system and all of its surroundings cannot be precisely restored to its initial state by infinitesimal changes in some property of the system without expenditure of energy.

Reversible process (thermodynamics)

In thermodynamics, a reversible process is a process, involving a system and its surroundings, whose direction can be reversed by infinitesimal changes in some properties of the surroundings, such as pressure or temperature. Throughout an entire reversible process, the system is in thermodynamic equilibrium, both physical and chemical, and nearly in pressure and temperature equilibrium with its surroundings. This prevents unbalanced forces and acceleration of moving system boundaries, which in turn avoids friction and other dissipation.

Laws of thermodynamics

The laws of thermodynamics are a set of scientific laws which define a group of physical quantities, such as temperature, energy, and entropy, that characterize thermodynamic systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. The laws also use various parameters for thermodynamic processes, such as thermodynamic work and heat, and establish relationships between them. They state empirical facts that form a basis of precluding the possibility of certain phenomena, such as perpetual motion.

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