Question

Which of the following is/are true for reversible process?

• A. It is a quasi-static process.
• B. Both the system and surrounding will return to their original state.
• C. Only the system will return to their original state.
• D. It is a very fast process.

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (B)

It is a quasi-static process.
Both the system and surrounding will return to their original state.

In thermodynamics, a quasi-static process is a thermodynamic process that happens slowly enough for the system to remain in internal equilibrium. An example of this is quasi-static compression, where the volume of a system changes at a rate slow enough to allow the pressure to remain uniform and constant throughout the system.

Any reversible process is necessarily a quasi-static one. However, quasi-static processes involving entropy production are irreversible. An example of a quasi-static process that is not reversible is a compression against a system with a piston subject to friction—although the system is always in thermal equilibrium, the friction ensures the generation of dissipative entropy, which directly goes against the definition of reversible. A notable example of a process that is not even quasi-static is the slow heat exchange between two bodies at two finitely different temperatures, where the heat exchange rate is controlled by an approximately adiabatic partition between the two bodies—in this case, no matter how slowly the process takes place, the states of the two bodies are never infinitesimally close to equilibrium[clarification needed], since thermal equilibrium requires that the two bodies be at the same temperature.

Hence statement A and B are correct