Similarities i) Work transfer and heat transfer are transient phenomena. Systems do not possess heat or work. Whenever systems undergo changes of state, they can cross the system boundary. ii) They are observed only at the boundaries of the system. iii) They are path functions and inexact differentiRead more
Similarities
i) Work transfer and heat transfer are transient phenomena. Systems do not possess heat or work. Whenever systems undergo changes of state, they can cross the system boundary.
ii) They are observed only at the boundaries of the system.
iii) They are path functions and inexact differentials.
iv) They are not a property of a system.
Differences:
i) Work transfer is defined as the way by which a system may exchange energy with its surroundings. Work is said to be transferred if a certain system is displaced by a force in the direction of it.
Heat transfer is defined as the form of energy that is transferred across the boundary of a system at a given temperature to another system or the surrounding at a lower temperature by virtue of the temperature difference between the two systems.
ii) In thermodynamics, the work done by the system is considered as positive work transfer and work done on the system is considered as negative work transfer whereas heat transferred to a system is considered as positive heat transfer and heat transfer from a system is considered as negative heat transfer.
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First law of thermodynamics states that during any cycle that a system undergoes, the cyclic integral of the heat equals cyclic integrals of the work. The first law, however, places no restriction on the direction of flow of heat and work. A cycle in which a given amount of heat is transferred fromRead more
First law of thermodynamics states that during any cycle that a system undergoes, the cyclic integral of the heat equals cyclic integrals of the work. The first law, however, places no restriction on the direction of flow of heat and work. A cycle in which a given amount of heat is transferred from the system and an equal amount of work is done on the system satisfies the first law just as well as a cyclic in which the flow of heat and work are reversed. However, we know from our experience that a proposed cycle that does not violate the first law does not ensure that the cycle will actually occur. It is a kind of experimental evidence that led to the formulation of the second law of thermodynamics. Thus a cycle will occur only if both the first law and second law of thermodynamics are satisfied.
Consider a hot water glass left in a cooler room that eventually cools off. This process satisfies the first law of thermodynamics as the amount of energy lost by hot water equals amount of heat gained by the surroundings. If we consider a reverse process, i.e., hot water getting even hotter in a cooler room as a result of heat transfer from the room air. It is obvious that this process never takes place. Furthermore, this process does not violet first law of thermodynamics as long as amount heat lost by air equals the amount of heat gained by hot water
Gasoline is used as a car drives up hill, but the fuel in gasoline tank cannot be restored to it’s original level when car coasts down the hill. However, this process as well does not violate first law of thermodynamics.
These arguments clarify that processes proceed in a certain directions and not in the reverse direction. The first law of thermodynamics places no restriction on the direction of a processes and satisfying the first law of thermodynamics does not ensure that the process can actually occur. This inadequacy of the first law of thermodynamics to identify whether a process can take place in remedied by introducing another general principle, called second law of thermodynamics. The reversed processed discussed in above examples violet the second law of thermodynamics.
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