Question

What are the first and second laws of thermodynamics?

Answer 1

First law of thermodynamics:

1. This law states that “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be converted from one form to another”.
2. It is also called the law of conservation of energy.
3. The first law of thermodynamics is a thermodynamic adaptation of the law of conservation of energy that distinguishes between three types of energy transfer: heat, thermodynamic work, and energy-related with matter transfer.
4. It also relates each type of energy transfer to an aspect of a body's internal energy.

Second law of thermodynamics:

1. This law states that “Heat does not flow from a colder object to a hotter object except by the application of energy”.
2. A physical law of thermodynamics, the second law of thermodynamics deals with heat and the loss that occurs during its conversion.
3. In some interpretations, the concept of entropy is established as a physical characteristic of a thermodynamic system by the second law of thermodynamics. It offers necessary criteria for spontaneous processes and can be used to determine whether processes are prohibited even when they comply with the first rule of thermodynamics' requirement for energy conservation.
4. The observation that isolated systems left to spontaneous development cannot experience a decrease in entropy can be used to formulate the second law.