The Laws of thermodynamics
The Laws of Thermodynamics are laws in the field of physics that have not been well understood
for a while and Laws that have been becoming more understood recently their roles in physics as well.
The Laws of Thermodynamics relegate the specifics for the movement of heat and work. To make it a
little more understood, the First Law of Thermodynamics is a statement of the conservation of energy.
The second law is a statement about the direction of that conservation, and the third law is a statement
about reaching absolute zero
In doing research on this subject, I first had to understand a little bit more about the Laws of
Thermodynamics. I do know that in meteorology, the Laws of Thermodynamics are essential into
understanding how heat is transported in the atmosphere during the formation and intensification of a
tropical cyclone. The First Law of Thermodynamics is often called the Law of Conservation of Energy.
This law here indicates that energy can be transferred from one system to another in many forms. Also,
it can be created or destroyed. Therefore, the total amount of energy available in the Universe is very
constant. One of the human minds more brightest and smartest to have lived, Einstein, his famous
equation describes the relationship between energy and matter. The famous equation is : E=MC^2.
Now in going forth in the Laws of Thermodynamics, the second law states: Heat cannot be
transferred from a colder to a hotter body. As a result of this fact of thermodynamics, natural processes
are irreversible. This Law also predicts that the energy of an isolated system also increases with time.
Entropy is the measure of the disorder or randomness of energy and matter in a system. Because of the
second law of thermodynamics, both energy and matter in the Universe are becoming less useful as
time goes on. Then there is one more law to list here to describe Thermodynamics. The Third Law of
Thermodynamics states the following: If all the thermal motion of molecules such as kinetic energy
could be removed, a state called absolute zero would occur. Now Absolute zero is a temperature of 0
Kelvins or -273.5 degrees Celsius.
To go into further detail and simplify into shorter terms of the first two laws. The first law
indicates that when heat flows to or from a system, the system gains or loses an amount of energy equal
to the amount of heat transferred and the second law indicates that heat of itself never flows from a
cold object to a hot object. It is impossible to reduce any system to absolute zero in any series of
operations. This means that a perfectly efficient heat engine cannot be revealed in the third law.
The field of Thermodynamics deals with systems that are capable and are able to transfer
thermal energy into at least one other form of energy (mechanical, electrical, etc) or into work. The
Laws of Thermodynamics were developed over the years as some of the most fundamental rules which
are followed when a thermodynamic system goes through some sort of energy change. There are pros
cand cons and good things and bad about many rules, principles, and laws in physics and in other
subjects. Within the field of Thermodynamics there are consequences. The first of the laws of
Thermodynamics tend to be relatively easy to state and understand. It can be understood that the Las
can be fairly easy to underestimate the impact that they have in Physics. On top of that, they do
however , they do put constraints on how energy can be used in the Universe. To imagine this, it would
be hard to overemphasize how significant this concept actually is. The consequences of the Laws of
Thermodynamics touch on almost every aspect of scientific inquiry in some way.
Thermodynamics is the field of study within physics that deals with the relationship between
heat, and other properties (such as pressure, density, temperature, etc) in a substance. More
specifically, Thermodynamics focuses on mainly how a heat transfer is related to various energy changes
within a physical system undergoing a thermodynamic process. In understanding how Thermodynamics
works and the laws that surround it, there are other concepts of Thermodynamics that one must look
into in order to comprehend the misconceptions and difficulties that are attached to it. That starts with
Heat Transfer.
The basic concepts of Heat Transfer are: Thermal Contact: When two substances can affect each
other’s temperature. Thermal Equilibrium : When two substances in thermal contact no longer transfer
heat. Thermal Expansion: Takes place when a substance expands in volume as it gains heat. Thermal
Contraction can also exist. Conduction: When heat flows through a heated solid. Convection: When
particles transfer heat to another substance, i.e. cooking something in boiling for example. Radiation:
when it is transferred through electromagnetic waves, such as from the sun. Insulation: When a lowconducting material is used to prevent heat transfer.
Here a system undergoes a thermodynamic process when there is some sort of energetic
change within the system, generally associated with changes in pressure, volume, internal energy, or
any sort of heat transfer. Here I am listing several types of thermodynamic processes that have special
properties. For example: The Adiabatic , Isochoric, Isobaric, and Isothermal Process. In Thermal
Dynamics, we must follow five different states of matter Which are the following: Gas, Liquid, Solid,
Plasma, and Superfluid. In Thermodynamics, during the heat transfer, there are specific names that
accompany them and their reverse processes. For example: Condensation which is from gas to liquid,
Freezing which is from liquid to solid, Melting which is from solid to liquid, Sublimation which is from a
solid to gas, and vaporization which is a liquid or solid to gas. In some ways here, by treating
Thermodynamics as a distinct discipline of physics is very much misleading. Thermodynamics touches on
virtually every field (like I mentioned earlier with meteorology) of physics, from astrophysics to
biophysics, because they all dial in some fashions with the change of energy in a system. Without the
ability of a system to use energy within a system to do work, the heart of Thermodynamics, there would
be virtually nothing for physicists to study.
There is some interesting, important history tied in with the Laws of Thermodynamics. Society
would fuel scientific advancement. Nineteenth century scientists were encouraged to study the machine
and its efficiency. To accomplish this for example, physicists analyzed the flow of heat in these machines
and the work. From then on began the establishment of modern thermodynamics. The first thing to
accomplish here was the new disciplinary means to convert heat as it is produced by machines into work
with full efficiency. Now with such flawless conversion could be accomplished, a machine could run off
on its own heat and thereby producing a never-ending cycle of heat to work, rendering heat, and
converting it to do work, and so on and so forth.
There were some doubts that a machine of some sorts could even do something to the point
where it could run continuously off its own exhaust or its ‘perpetual motion’ machine, which it was
dubbed at the time to get other industrial corporations excited about its possibilities. They were the
ones that funded much of its development. However, the results were much disappointing and
displeasing to those that had funded the development of the project. Because the very same research
that was oriented to create a new perpetual-motion machine proved that the very concept is not at all
possible. The very proof lies in the three theories of Thermodynamics that are widely considered the
most important laws in the whole body of science. Which are the three Laws of Thermodynamics.
Again to go back to the Laws of Thermodynamics, the First Law of Thermodynamics is a prelude
to the second. Here it states again that the total energy output (as produced by a machine) is equal to
the amount of heat supplied. So generally speaking here, energy can be neither created or destroyed, so
here the sum of the mass and energy is always conserved. By this nature though, this finding in the first
law did not restrict the use of perpetual-motion machines. However, the next law would deal a blow to
those that believed in a machine that would do such wonders.
The first law contained one major flaw that actually made it inaccurate as it stood. This law is
based on the reality that one does not take into consideration limits that are placed by transactions
occurring in the real world. To make some sense of it, the first law failed to recognize that not all
circumstances that conserve energy actually ensue naturally. As the first law became more impractical
and apparent, a total revision of the law became essential If science hoped to fully understand thermal
interactions , and thus keep pace with a machine driven society.
The second Law of Thermodynamics become born due to modifications of the first law and it
made no early promises of being important and or significant. There was further research into the
natural tendencies of thermal movement in the latter nineteenth century. Development of a code of
restrictions was needed to in order to show how heat conversion is achieved in the natural world.
Physicists had attempted to transform heat into work with full efficacy and quickly learned that always
some heat would escape into the surrounding environment, eternally doomed to be wasted energy.
Being obsolete, this energy can never be converted into anything useful again.
There was an important physicist that was noted for his significant experiments in the field of
physics and that man is Frenchman, Sadi Carnot. His ideal engine, called the ‘Carnot Engine,’ would
theoretically have a work output equal to that of its heat input and during this process not lose any
energy in the process. Unfortunately, Carnot fell into the similar trap as in the first law, and failed to
conduct his experiments as they would naturally occur. As he realized his error, he concluded that after
more experiments that no such device could completely make the desired conversion, without losing at
least some energy to the environment. He did write an equation to prove his statement and noted that
for a machine to attain full efficiency, temperatures of absolute zero would be necessary into the
incorporation of the machine. Reaching absolute zero is later proved to be impossible by the Third Law
of Thermodynamics that would surface later on in the nineteenth century.
With the discoveries that Carnot made, many of the findings frustrated the believers of this
perpetual motion machine, and that enraged the industrial tycoons who had sponsored the whole
operation. With Carnot’s equation, he helped industrial engineers design the engines that were possible
to operate to around 80% efficiency level.-which is an enormous improvement over prior designs,
increasing productivity exponentially. The Second Law would later achieve a legendary status as a
fundamental law of natural science when the heat-to-work process was reversed and the invention of
the refrigerator was invented.
Here with the irrevocable loss of some energy to the environment was associated with an
increase of disorder in that system. Scientists wishing to further penetrate the realm of chaos needed a
variable that could be used to calculate disorder. All in part to mid nineteenth century physicist, R.J.E.
Clausius, this could be measured in terms of a quality named entropy. Obviously as I mentioned earlier,
entropy acts as a function of the state of a system=where a high amount of entropy translates to higher
chaos within the system, and low entropy signals a highly ordered state.
Thermodynamics or the three laws of it are the field of physics that best describe and correlates
the physical properties of macroscopic systems of matter and energy as they are understood at any
particular time and thought to be true. “Laws” of physics about our observations and constructs; we
think they apply to nature, but they may not again. The principles of thermodynamics are of
fundamental importance to all of science and engineering and Carnot helped fuel the progress and
understanding of the Three Laws of Thermodynamics.