General Physics 1 Page 1 of 5

Law of Thermodynamics

IV. LESSON PROPER

LET’S BEGIN!

Based on the preliminary activities, what did you notice about it?
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CONGRATULATIONS!
You may now proceed to the lesson.

4.1 State the relationship between changes internal energy, work done, and thermal energy
supplied through the First Law of Thermodynamics

The four laws of Thermodynamics summarize the most important facts of thermodynamics. They define
fundamental physical quantities such as temperature, energy and entropy, in order to describe
thermodynamic systems. They also describe the transfer of energy as heat and work in thermodynamic
processes.

Zeroth Law: The Zeroth law of thermodynamics recognizes that

if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third, they are also
in thermal equilibrium with each other, thus supporting the notion
of temperature and heat.

The first law of thermodynamics distinguishes between two

kinds of physical process, namely energy transfer as work and
energy transfer as heat.

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The second law of thermodynamics distinguishes between

reversible and irreversible physical processes.

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Law of Thermodynamics

The third law of thermodynamics concerns the entropy of a

perfect crystal at absolute zero temperature, and implies that it is
impossible to cool a system to exactly absolute zero, or equivalently
that perpetual motion machines of the third kind are impossible.

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A thermodynamic system is a precisely defined macroscopic region

of the universe, often called a physical system, that is, studied using
the principles of thermodynamics.

4.2 Differentiate the following thermodynamic processes and show them on a PV diagram:
isochoric, isobaric, isothermal, adiabatic, and cyclic

An isobaric process is a thermodynamic

process in which pressure stays constant:
ΔP = 0. For an ideal gas, this means the volume of
a gas is proportional to its temperature
(historically, this is called Charles' law ).

An isochoric process, also called a constant-

volume process, isovolumetric process, or an
https://www.embibe.com/study/thermodynamic-processes- isometric process, is a thermodynamic process
isobaric-isochoric-isothermal-and-adiabatic-concept during which the volume of the closed system
undergoing such a process remains constant.
An isothermal process is a change of a system, in which the temperature remains constant: ΔT =0.
In contrast, an adiabatic process is where a system exchanges no heat with its surroundings (Q = 0).

Adiabatic process, in thermodynamics, change occurring within a system as a result of transfer of energy
to or from the system in the form of work only; i.e., no heat is transferred. A rapid expansion or contraction
of a gas is very nearly adiabatic.
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Law of Thermodynamics

4.3 Calculate the efficiency of a heat engine

The amount of work output for a given amount
of heat gives a system its thermal efficiency
is the total heat energy input from the hot source.
Heat engines often operate at around 30%
to 50% efficiency, due to practical limitations.

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Heat engines such as automobile engines operate in a cyclic manner, adding energy in the form of heat in
one part of the cycle and using that energy to do useful work in another part of the cycle.

Sample problems
1. During a cyclic process, a heat engine absorbs 500 J of heat from a hot reservoir, does work and ejects
an amount of heat 300 J into the surroundings (cold reservoir). Calculate the efficiency of the heat engine?
Solution
The efficiency of heat engine is given by

μ = 1 – 0.6 = 0.4
The heat engine has 40% efficiency, implying that this heat engine converts
only 40% of the input heat into work.

2. A steam engine boiler is maintained at 250°C and water is converted into steam. This steam is used to
do work and heat is ejected to the surrounding air at temperature 300K. Calculate the maximum efficiency it
can have?
Solution
The steam engine is not a Carnot engine, because all the process involved in the steam engine are not
perfectly reversible. But we can calculate the maximum possible efficiency of the steam engine by considering
it as a Carnot engine.
The steam engine can have maximum possible 43% of efficiency, implying
this steam engine can convert 43% of input heat into useful work and
remaining 57% is ejected as heat. In practice the efficiency is even less
than 43%.

3. There are two Carnot engines A and B operating in two different temperature regions. For Engine A the
temperatures of the two reservoirs are 150°C and 100°C. For engine B the temperatures of the reservoirs
are 350°C and 300°C. Which engine has lesser efficiency?
Solution
The efficiency for engine A = 1 − 373/423 = 0.11. Engine A has 11% efficiency
The efficiency for engine B = 1 - 573/623 = 0.08. Engine B has only 8% efficiency.
Even though the differences between the temperature of hot and cold reservoirs in both engines is same, the
efficiency is not same. The efficiency depends on the ratio of the two temperature and not on the difference
in the temperature. The engine which operates in lower temperature has highest efficiency.
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Law of Thermodynamics

4.4 Describe reversible and irreversible processes

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All changes in the world are one of the two types – Reversible changes and irreversible changes.
A change which can happen backward, that is, can be reversed is called a reversible change. ...
A change which cannot happen backward, that is, it cannot be reversed is called an irreversible change.

4.5 Explain how entropy is a measure of disorder

Entropy, the measure of a system's thermal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing
useful work. Since the work is obtained from ordered molecular motion, thus the amount of entropy is also
a measure of the molecular disorder, or randomness, of a system.

There is yet another way of expressing the second law of thermodynamics. This version relates to a concept
called entropy. By examining it, we shall see that the directions associated with the second law—heat
transfer from hot to cold, for example—are related to the tendency in nature for systems to become
disordered and for less energy to be available for use as work. The entropy of a system can in fact be shown
to be a measure of its disorder and of the unavailability of energy to do work.

4.6 State the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Key Points
 Many thermodynamic phenomena, allowed to occur
by the first law of thermodynamics, never occur in
nature.
 Many processes occur spontaneously in one
direction only, and the second law of
thermodynamics deals with the direction taken by
spontaneous processes.
 According to the second law of thermodynamics, it is
impossible for any process to have heat transfer
https://sites.google.com/site/cnuzumphysics/ from a cooler to a hotter object as its sole result.
thermodynamics/other-laws-of-thermodynamics

Key Terms
 entropy: A measure of how evenly energy (or some analogous property) is distributed in a system.
 the first law of thermodynamics: A version of the law of conservation of energy, specialized for
thermodynamical systems. Usually expressed as ΔU=Q−W.
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Law of Thermodynamics

4.7 Calculate entropy changes for various processes e.g., isothermal process, free expansion,
constant pressure process, etc.

Sample problems
1. Spontaneous heat transfer from hot to cold is an irreversible process. Calculate the total change in
entropy if 4000 J of heat transfer occurs from a hot reservoir at Th = 600 K(327ºC) to a cold reservoir
at Tc = 250 K(−23ºC), assuming there is no temperature change in either reservoir.
Solution
We now calculate the two changes in entropy using ΔStot = ΔSh + ΔSc.
First, for the heat transfer from the hot reservoir,
ΔSh = −Qh = −4000 J = −6.67 J/K
Th 600 K
And for the cold reservoir,
ΔSc = −Qc = 4000 J = 16.0 J/K
Tc 250 K
Thus the total is
ΔStot = ΔSh + ΔSc = (−6.67+16.0) J/K = 9.33 J/K

2. Calculate the work output of a Carnot engine operating between temperatures of 600 K and 100 K for
4000 J of heat transfer to the engine.
Solution
The Carnot efficiency is given by EffC = 1−Tc = 1 – 100 K = 0.833
Th 600 K
Eff′C = 1−Tc = 100 K = 0.600
T′c 250 K
Now the work output can be calculated using the definition of efficiency for any heat engine as given by:
Eff = W Solving for W and substituting known terms gives W = EffCQh = (0.833)(4000 J) = 3333 J
Qh

3. Now suppose that the 4000 J of heat transfer occurs first from the 600 K reservoir to a 250 K reservoir
(without doing any work, and this produces the increase in entropy calculated above) before transferring
into a Carnot engine operating between 250 K and 100 K. What work output is produced?
Solution
Now the work output can be calculated using the definition of efficiency for any heat engine as given by:
Eff = W Solving for W and substituting known terms gives W = EffCQh = (0.600)(4000 J) = 2400 J
Qh

4. Find the increase in entropy of 1.00 kg of ice originally at 0º C that is melted to form water at 0º C.
Solution
ΔS = Q = 3.34 × 105 J = 1.22 × 103 J/K
T 273 K