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 picture info Isothermal Process An isothermal process is a change of a system, in which the temperature remains constant: ΔT = 0. This typically occurs when a system is in contact with an outside thermal reservoir ( Heat Heat bath">heat bath), and the change will occur slowly enough to allow the system to continually adjust to the temperature of the reservoir through heat exchange. In contrast, an adiabatic process is where a system exchanges no heat with its surroundings (Q = 0) [...More...] picture info Chemical Potential In thermodynamics, chemical potential of a species, is a form of energy that can be absorbed or released during a chemical reaction or phase transition due to a change of the particle number of the given species. The chemical potential of a species in a mixture is defined as the rate of change of a free energy of a thermodynamic system with respect to the change in the number of atoms or molecules of the species that are added to the system. Thus, it is the partial derivative of the free energy with respect to the amount of the species, all other species' concentrations in the mixture remaining constant. The molar chemical potential is also known as partial molar free energy. When both temperature and pressure are held constant, chemical potential is the partial molar Gibbs free energy [...More...] picture info Statistical Mechanics Statistical mechanics is a branch of theoretical physics that uses Probability Probability theory">probability theory to study the average behaviour of a mechanical system whose exact state is uncertain. Statistical mechanics Statistical mechanics is commonly used to explain the thermodynamic behaviour of large systems. This branch of statistical mechanics, which treats and extends classical thermodynamics, is known as statistical thermodynamics or equilibrium statistical mechanics. Microscopic mechanical laws do not contain concepts such as temperature, heat, or entropy; however, statistical mechanics shows how these concepts arise from the natural uncertainty about the state of a system when that system is prepared in practice [...More...] Quantum Thermodynamics Quantum thermodynamics is the study of the relations between two independent physical theories: thermodynamics and Quantum mechanics">quantum mechanics. The two independent theories address the physical phenomena of light and matter. In 1905 Einstein argued that the requirement of consistency between thermodynamics and electromagnetism leads to the conclusion that light is quantized obtaining the relation ${\displaystyle E=h\nu }$. This paper is the dawn of quantum theory. In a few decades quantum theory became established with an independent set of rules. Currently quantum thermodynamics addresses the emergence of thermodynamic laws from quantum mechanics. It differs from Quantum statistical mechanics">quantum statistical mechanics in the emphasis on dynamical processes out of equilibrium [...More...] picture info Carnot Heat Engine A Carnot heat engine is a theoretical engine that operates on the reversible Carnot cycle. The basic model for this engine was developed by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in 1824. The Carnot engine model was graphically expanded upon by Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron in 1834 and mathematically explored by Rudolf Clausius in 1857 from which the concept of entropy emerged. Every thermodynamic system exists in a particular state. A thermodynamic cycle occurs when a system is taken through a series of different states, and finally returned to its initial state. In the process of going through this cycle, the system may perform work on its surroundings, thereby acting as a Heat Heat engine">heat engine. A heat engine acts by transferring energy from a warm region to a cool region of space and, in the process, converting some of that energy to mechanical work. The cycle may also be reversed [...More...] picture info State Of Matter In physics, a state of matter is one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist. Four states of matter are observable in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Many other states are known to exist, such as glass or Liquid Liquid crystal">liquid crystal, and some only exist under extreme conditions, such as Bose–Einstein condensates, neutron-degenerate matter, and quark-gluon plasma, which only occur, respectively, in situations of extreme cold, extreme density, and extremely high-energy. Some other states are believed to be possible but remain theoretical for now. For a complete list of all exotic states of matter, see the list of states of matter. Historically, the distinction is made based on qualitative differences in properties. Matter Matter in the solid state maintains a fixed volume and shape, with component particles (atoms, molecules or ions) close together and fixed into place [...More...] picture info HEAT In thermodynamics, heat refers to energy that is transferred from a warmer substance or object to a cooler one [...More...] picture info Entropy In statistical mechanics, entropy (usual symbol S) is related to the number of microscopic configurations Ω that a thermodynamic system can have when in a state as specified by some macroscopic variables. Specifically, assuming for simplicity that each of the microscopic configurations is equally probable, the entropy of the system is the natural logarithm of that number of configurations, multiplied by the Boltzmann constant kB. Formally, ${\displaystyle S=k_{\mathrm {B} }\ln \Omega {\text{ (assuming equiprobable states)}}.}$ This is consistent with 19th-century formulas for entropy in terms of heat and temperature, as discussed below [...More...] Thermodynamic Temperature Thermodynamic temperature is the absolute measure of temperature and is one of the principal parameters of thermodynamics. Thermodynamic temperature is defined by the third law of thermodynamics in which the theoretically lowest temperature is the null or zero point. At this point, absolute zero, the particle constituents of matter have minimal motion and can become no colder. In the quantum-mechanical description, matter at absolute zero is in its ground state, which is its state of lowest energy. Thermodynamic temperature is often also called absolute temperature, for two reasons: one, proposed by Kelvin, that it does not depend on the properties of a particular material; two that it refers to an absolute zero according to the properties of the ideal gas. The International System of Units specifies a particular scale for thermodynamic temperature [...More...] State Function In thermodynamics, a state function or function of state is a function defined for a system relating several state variables or state quantities that depends only on the current equilibrium state of the system. State functions do not depend on the path by which the system arrived at its present state. A state function describes the equilibrium state of a system. For example, internal energy, enthalpy, and entropy are state quantities because they describe quantitatively an equilibrium state of a thermodynamic system, irrespective of how the system arrived in that state. In contrast, mechanical work and heat are process quantities or path functions, because their values depend on the specific transition (or path) between two equilibrium states [...More...] picture info Reversible Process (thermodynamics) In thermodynamics, a reversible process is a process whose direction can be "reversed" by inducing infinitesimal changes to some property of the system via its surroundings, with no increase in entropy. Throughout the entire reversible process, the system is in thermodynamic equilibrium with its surroundings. Since it would take an infinite amount of time for the reversible process to finish, perfectly reversible processes are impossible. However, if the system undergoing the changes responds much faster than the applied change, the deviation from reversibility may be negligible. In a reversible cycle, a cyclical reversible process, the system and its surroundings will be returned to their original states if one half cycle is followed by the other half cycle. Thermodynamic processes can be carried out in one of two ways: reversibly or irreversibly. Reversibility means the reaction operates continuously at equilibrium [...More...] picture info Irreversible Process In science, a process that is not reversible is called irreversible. This concept arises frequently in thermodynamics. In thermodynamics, a change in the thermodynamic state of a system and all of its surroundings cannot be precisely restored to its initial state by infinitesimal changes in some property of the system without expenditure of energy. A system that undergoes an irreversible process may still be capable of returning to its initial state. However, the impossibility occurs in restoring the environment to its own initial conditions. An irreversible process increases the entropy of the universe. Because entropy is a state function, the change in entropy of the system is the same, whether the process is reversible or irreversible [...More...] picture info Pressure Pressure (symbol: p or P) is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled gage pressure) is the pressure relative to the ambient pressure. Various units are used to express pressure. Some of these derive from a unit of force divided by a unit of area; the SI unit of pressure, the pascal (Pa), for example, is one newton per square metre; similarly, the pound-force per square inch (psi) is the traditional unit of pressure in the imperial and US customary systems. Pressure Pressure may also be expressed in terms of standard atmospheric pressure; the Atmosphere Atmosphere (unit)">atmosphere (atm) is equal to this pressure, and the torr is defined as ​1--->⁄760 of this [...More...]