Three or four Laws of Thermodynamics?
PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:19 pm
Hello all,
I was hoping you could resolve a metaphysical problem--"If something is labeled as 'zeroth,' can it be enumerated?"
For all of those curious, these are the "three" laws of thermodynamics:
1:The change in the internal energy of a system depends only on the net heat transferred to the system and the net work done by the system, and is independent of the particular process involved.
2:(Kelvin-Planck statement): It is impossible to construct a heat engine operating in a cycle that extracts heat from a reservoir and delivers and equal amount of work.
(Clausius statement): It is impossible to construct a refrigerator operating in a cycle whose sole effect is to transfer heat from a cooler object to a hotter one.
3:It is impossible to reach absolute zero in a finite number of steps.
However, the wiseguys that made stated these laws made a boo-boo, and realized that these laws would fall apart unless there was a rationalization for thermometry. So they came up with a "prequel" law of thermodynamics: the ZEROTH LAW!!!
If system A and system C are in themodynamic equilibrium with system B, then systems A and C are in thermodynamic equilibrium with each other.
I was hoping you could resolve a metaphysical problem--"If something is labeled as 'zeroth,' can it be enumerated?"
For all of those curious, these are the "three" laws of thermodynamics:
1:The change in the internal energy of a system depends only on the net heat transferred to the system and the net work done by the system, and is independent of the particular process involved.
2:(Kelvin-Planck statement): It is impossible to construct a heat engine operating in a cycle that extracts heat from a reservoir and delivers and equal amount of work.
(Clausius statement): It is impossible to construct a refrigerator operating in a cycle whose sole effect is to transfer heat from a cooler object to a hotter one.
3:It is impossible to reach absolute zero in a finite number of steps.
However, the wiseguys that made stated these laws made a boo-boo, and realized that these laws would fall apart unless there was a rationalization for thermometry. So they came up with a "prequel" law of thermodynamics: the ZEROTH LAW!!!
If system A and system C are in themodynamic equilibrium with system B, then systems A and C are in thermodynamic equilibrium with each other.