Question

What are the basic concepts of thermodynamics?

Answer 1

Thermodynamics:

1. It is a field of physics that deals with heat, temperature, and work.
2. It also examines the relationship of above concepts with energy.
3. The word thermodynamics is made up of two word: "thermo" and “dynamics”
4. Thermo is derived from therme - greek for heat.
5. Dynamics is derived from dynamikos - greek for force, power.

Concepts in thermodynamics:

System

1. System is a space with a distinct border.
2. The system's border may be fixed or flexible
3. It may be real or imagined.
4. There are three types of systems:
   1. Closed System
   2. Isolated System
   3. Open System.

Process

1. A process is a change in the state of a system.
2. It is characterized by a change in temperature, pressure, or volume of the system.
3. There are four thermodynamic processes with distinctive characteristics. They are:
   1. Isochoric process.
   2. Isobaric process.
   3. Isothermal process.
   4. Adiabatic process.

Equilibrium

1. When the system does not have a tendency to change its state, we say that the system is in equilibrium.
2. At equilibrium, no spontaneous changes in the state of the system occur.

Enthalpy

1. Enthalpy is defined as the sum of the internal energy and the product of the pressure and volume of a thermodynamic system.
2. It is a measure of total heat of a system.
3. It is a also a measure of how much work the system can do.

Entropy

1. Entropy is defined as the measure of a system's thermal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work.
2. It is commonly defined as the randomness of the system.
3. Low entropy means high orderliness and high entropy means low orderliness.