6/10/2015

Whatisasimpledefintionofthelawsofthermodynamics?

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Question
Whatisasimpledefintionofthelawsofthermodynamics?
Askedby:JamesBeal

Answer
Thermodynamicsisthestudyoftheinterrelationbetweenheat,workandinternalenergyofasystem.
TheBritishscientistandauthorC.P.Snowhadanexcellentwayofrememberingthethreelaws:
1. Youcannotwin(thatis,youcannotgetsomethingfornothing,becausematterandenergyareconserved).
2. Youcannotbreakeven(youcannotreturntothesameenergystate,becausethereisalwaysanincreasein
disorderentropyalwaysincreases).
3. Youcannotgetoutofthegame(becauseabsolutezeroisunattainable).

Answeredby:DanSummons,PhysicsUndergradStudent,UOS,Souhampton

Insimplestterms,theLawsofThermodynamicsdictatethespecificsforthemovementofheatandwork.Basically,
theFirstLawofThermodynamicsisastatementoftheconservationofenergytheSecondLawisastatement
aboutthedirectionofthatconservationandtheThirdLawisastatementaboutreachingAbsoluteZero(0K).
However,sincetheirconception,theselawshavebecomesomeofthemostimportantlawsofallscienceandare
oftenassociatedwithconceptsfarbeyondwhatisdirectlystatedinthewording.Togiveyouabetter
understandingonhowtheselawscameaboutandtheirmodernscopeofcoverage,youhavetounderstandwhen
andwhytheselawsweregenerated.
Ourstorybeginsbackinthemidseventeenthcentury.Societypriortotheeighteenthcenturyfavored
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Whatisasimpledefintionofthelawsofthermodynamics?

developmentsinthelifesciences(largelyformedicalresearch)andastronomy(fornavigationandarecordofthe
passageoftimealsoasourceforearlymythologyandfolklore).Sciencewasviewedaspurelyaphilosophic
endeavor,wherelittleresearchwasconductedbeyondthemostusefulfields.Indeed,philosophyandsciencewere
inseparableinseveralemergingdisciplines(thisisalwaystrueofnewfieldswherenofirmbasisofstudyhasyet
beenconducted).
However,Europeansocietywasabouttoexperienceunforeseeablerapidchanges.Priortothemideighteenth
century,thegeneralEuropeanpopulacerandomlydottedthelandinsmallagriculturalcommunities,industrywas
runoutofcountrycottages,andscientificdevelopmentswerenearlyatastandstill.Suddenly,withoutmuchofa
transition,newpocketsofindustryarose,focusingtowardslargescaledmachinesratherthansmallhandtools
largeindustrialcorporationsoftencrushedsmallagriculturallycenteredcommerceandinmanyareas,citylife
renderedcountryfarmcottagesobsolete.Coincidingwithaneraofvastsocialandpoliticalchanges,thishistoric
eventwouldlatercometobecalledtheIndustrialRevolution.
Ifnecessitywerethemotherofallinnovation,thentheIndustrialRevolutionwouldbethemotherofall
necessities.Horriblelivingconditionsintheovercrowdedindustrialcitiesbredaplethoraofdiseasesandviruses.
Thisalongwithotherresultsofspontaneousurbanizationdemandedscienceagaintoaddresstheproblemsofan
everchanginghumancivilization.
ScienceoftheIndustrialAgerespondedtosuchneedsbycenteringonmedicaladvancesintheearlystagesofthe
revolution.Suchwastheeraofcrucialmedicalbreakthroughs,andageofgreatestphysiologistssuchasMarie
Curie(radium),WilhelmRoentgen(xrays),LouisPasteur(pasteurization),EdwardJenner(smallpoxvaccination),
JosephLister(bacteriaantiseptic),andCharlesDarwin(evolution).
Oncethemedicalcrisiswasrectified,sciencecouldconcentrateontheheartofanindustrialsocietylargescaled
machinery.Trueofnineteenthcenturymassindustry,thecompanywiththegreatestmachinesproducedmore
products,mademoremoney,andwasconsequentlymoresuccessful.Itisnatural,therefore,thatfiercecompetition
arosetofindthemostindustriousmachinerypossible,andhowfarthelimitsofthesemachinescouldbepushedas
toachievemaximumproductivity(withoutconsumingmuchenergy).
Again,societywouldfuelscientificadvancement.Nineteenthcenturyscientistswereencouragedtostudythe
machine,anditsefficiency.Todothis,physicistsanalyzedtheflowofheatinthesemachines,andthechemical
changesthattranspirewhentheyperformwork.Thuswastheestablishmentofmodernthermodynamics.Firston
theagendaofthisnewdisciplinewastofindameansconvertheat(asproducedbymachines)intoworkwithfull
efficiency.Ifsuchaflawlessconversioncouldbeaccomplished,amachinecouldrunoffitsownheat,producinga
neverendingcycleofheattowork,renderingheat,convertingtowork,andsoforthadinfinitum

Theideaofsuchamachinethatcouldruncontinuouslyoffitsownexhaust,or'perpetualmotion'machineasitwas
dubbed,excitedtheindustrialcorporations,whocontributedmuchfundingforitsdevelopment.However,asthe
researchwascompleted,theresultswereallbutpleasingtothesponsors.Asitturnedout,theverysameresearch
orientedtocreateaperpetualmotionmachineprovedthattheveryconceptisnotpossible.Theproofliesintwo
theories(nowthree)thatarecurrentlyconsideredthemostimportantlawsinthewholebodyofsciencetheFirst
andSecondLawsofThermodynamics.
TheFirstLawofThermodynamicsisreallyapreludetothesecond.Itstatesthatthetotalenergyoutput(asthat
producedbyamachine)isequaltotheamountofheatsupplied.Generally,energycanneitherbecreatednor
destroyed,sothesumofmassandenergyisalwaysconserved.Amathematicalapproachtothislawproducedthe
equationU=QW(thechangeintheinternalenergyofaclosedsystemequalstheheataddedtothesystemminus
theworkdonebythesystem).Byitsnature,thisfindingdidnotrestricttheuseofperpetualmotionmachines.
However,thenextlawwoulddealablowtoallbelieversofsuchawondermachine.
Thefirstlaw,abellwetherinthefrontierpasturesofThermodynamics,containedonemajorflawthatrenderedit
inaccurateasitstood.Thislawisbasedonaconceptualreality,onethatdoesnottakeintoconsiderationlimits
placedbytransactionsoccurringintherealworld.Inotherwords,thefirstlawfailedtorecognizethatnotall
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circumstancesthatconserveenergyactuallyensuenaturally.Astheimpracticalityofthefirstlaw(todescribeall
naturalphenomenon)becameapparent,arevisionbecameessentialifsciencehopedfullytounderstandthermal
interactions,andthuskeeppacewithamachinedrivensociety.
Bornasamodificationtoitsoldersibling,theSecondLawofThermodynamicsmadenoearlypromisesof
importance.Furtherresearchintothenaturaltendenciesofthermalmovementinthelatternineteenthcentury
developedacodeofrestrictionsastohowheatconversionisachievedinthenaturalworld.Physicistsattempting
totransformheatintoworkwithfullefficacyquicklylearnedthatalwayssomeheatwouldescapeintothe
surroundingenvironment,eternallydoomedtobewastedenergy(recallthatenergycannotbedestroyed).Being
obsolete,thisenergycanneverbeconvertedintoanythingusefulagain.
OnephysicistnotedforsignificantexperimentsinthisfieldistheFrenchman,SadiCarnot.Hisidealengine,so
properlytitledthe'CarnotEngine,'wouldtheoreticallyhaveaworkoutputequaltothatofitsheatinput(thusnot
losinganyenergyintheprocess).However,hefellintoasimilartrapasinthefirstlaw,andfailedtoconducthis
experimentsaswouldnaturallyoccur.Realizinghiserror,heconcluded(afterfurtherexperimentation)thatno
devicecouldcompletelymakethedesiredconversion,withoutlosingatleastsomeenergytotheenvironment.
Carnotcreatedanequationheemployedtoprovethisstatement,andcurrentlyusedtoshowthethermodynamic
efficiencyofaheatmachine:e=1TL/TH(theefficiencyofaheatmachineisequaltooneminusthelow
operatingtemperatureofthemachineindegreesKelvin,dividedbythehighoperatingtemperateofthemachinein
degreesKelvin).Foramachinetoattainfullefficiency,temperaturesofabsolutezerowouldhavetobe
incorporated.ReachingabsolutezeroislaterprovedimpossiblebytheThirdLawofThermodynamics(which
wouldsurfaceinthelate19thcentury).
Thesefindingsfrustratedthebelieversofaperpetualmotionmachine,andangeredtheindustrialtycoonswho
sponsoredthewholeendeavor.Yet,notallwascompletelylost.Carnot'sequationhelpedindustrialengineers
designenginesthatcouldoperateuptoan80%efficiencylevelanenormousimprovementoverpriordesigns,
increasingproductivityexponentially.Moreover,byreversingtheheattoworkprocess,theinventionofthe
refrigeratorwasmadepossible!Yet,thegreatestoverallfruitofthisventurewasthedevelopmentoftheSecond
ThermodynamicLaw,whichwouldlaterachievealegendarystatusasafundamentallawofnaturalscience.
LetusshortlyreturntoCarnotandtheheatengine.Theirrevocablelossofsomeenergytotheenvironmentwas
associatedwithanincreaseofdisorderinthatsystem.Scientistswishingtofurtherpenetratetherealmofchaos
neededavariablethatcouldbeusedtocalculatedisorder.Thankstomidnineteenthcenturyphysicist,R.J.E.
Clausius,thisPandemoniumcouldbemeasuredintermsofaquantitynamedentropy(thevariableS).Entropyacts
asafunctionofthestateofasystemwhereahighamountofentropytranslatestohigherchaoswithinthesystem,
andlowentropysignalsahighlyorderedstate.
LikeCarnot,Clausiusworkedoutageneralequation,hisbeingdevotedtothemeasurementofentropychange
overaperiodoftime:(change)S=Q/T(thechangeinentropyisequaltotheamountofheataddedtothesystem
[byaninvertibleprocess]dividedbythetemperatureindegreesKelvin).Thebeautyofthisequationisthatitcan
beusedtocomputetheentropicchangeofanyexchangeinnature,notsolelylimitedtomachines.This
developmentbroughtthermodynamicsoutoftheindustrialworkplace,andopenedthepossibilityforfurther
studiesintothetendenciesofnaturalorder(andlackthereforeof),eventuallyextendingtotheuniverseasawhole.
Applyingthisknowledgetonature,physicistsfoundthatthetotalentropychange(changeinS)alwaysincreases
foreverynaturallyoccurringevent(withinaclosedsystem)thatcouldbethenobserved.Thus,theytheorized,
disordermustbecontinuallyaugmentingevenlythroughouttheuniverse.Whenyouputiceintoahotcupoftea
(aristocratsoftheVictorianerawereconstantlythinkingoftea),heatwillflowfromthehotteatothecoldiceand
melttheiceinthebelovedbeverage.Then,oncetheenergyinthecupisevenlydistributed,thecooledteawould
reachamaximumstateofentropy.Thissituationrepresentsastandardincreaseindisorder,believedtobe
perpetuallyoccurringthroughouttheentireuniverse.
Answeredby:AndrewV.Liaugminas,IndependentResearcherChicago,Illinois.
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