‫‪Reversibility and Irreversibility‬‬

‫االسم‪ :‬حسان مزهر عداي‬

‫المادة‪ :‬ثرموداينمك‬

‫المرحلة ‪ /‬الفرع‪ :‬اول \ تكييف\ صباحي\ تحميل‬

‫المشرف‪ :‬د‪.‬ساهرة‬
What is a reversible process?

Mohammad Samiullaha_
Physics Department, Truman State University, 100 E. Normal Street, Kirksville, Missouri 63501
Received 7 December 2006; accepted 9 March 2007
The definitions of reversible processes given in introductory physics books are found to
be vague
and misleading. An operational definition suitable for introductory texts is presented
that avoids
these problems. It stresses that to properly describe reversible processes, the second law
of
thermodynamics must be used. The constancy of entropy, which defines a reversible
process, also
distinguishes reversible processes from quasi-static processes

INTRODUCTION:

The way thermodynamics concepts are presented in introductory physics courses

creates much confusion and leaves students befuddled. The mysterious nature of heat is
responsible for much of the vagueness of thermodynamics as it is presented to students.
Nowhere is the lack of clarity more
apparent than in the treatment of reversible processes. Just to illustrate the problem, I
quote here the definition of a reversible process from Resnick, Halliday, and Krane.
In a reversible process, we make a small change in a system and its environment; by
reversing that
change, the system and its environment will return to their original conditions.
The definitions in other introductory books are not much different or clearer.2,3 Even an
intermediate level book by Zemansky and Dittman has a very similar definition A
reversible process is one that is performed in such a way that, at the conclusion of the
process, both the system and the local surroundings may be restored to their initial
states, without producing any changes in the rest of the universe. The trouble with these
definitions is that it is not clear what returning to the original conditions means. Many
students take it to mean that the system and the environment
return to the energy states that are the same as before when the process is carried out in
the reverse direction. It most certainly does not mean that, because no matter how a
process is conducted, the total energy of the system and the environment is conserved.5
Therefore, when the system returns to its initial energy state, the environment must also
do so, whether the process is reversible or not. The reversibility of a process has nothing
to do with energy conservation. The key to the idea of reversibility lies in the second law
of thermodynamics which forbids any real process from being reversible. Therefore, we
should discuss the second law of thermodynamics before or along with the definition of a
reversible process. It is a mistake to introduce the idea of reversibility well before the
second law has been discussed. In the following, I suggest that a more appropriate
pedagogical approach would be to introduce students to the concept of a quasi-static
process first and then make use of the Carnot cycle to develop the concept of
reversibility.
QUASI-STATIC PROCESSES:

A quasi-static process is a change in the state of a system that is conducted

infinitesimally slowly such that, at each instant, the system is in thermodynamic
equilibrium with its environment, and its thermodynamic properties, such as volume,
pressure, and temperature, remain well-defined throughout the process. Quasi-static
processes are often misunderstood to be reversible, especially in elementary physics
texts. Because quasi-static processes only deal with a particular forward process without
regard to the reverse process, they may or may not be reversible in the sense described
in the following. There are processes, such as the expansion of a gas fitted with a piston,
subject to sliding friction that are
quasi-static but not reversible.
REVERSIBLE PROCESSES
A direct way to address the question of reversibility is to introduce the second law of
thermodynamics as given by Clausius’s inequality about the heat absorbed divided by
thenabsolute temperature at which it is absorbed

where, if the equality holds, the process is reversible. Although this approach to the
second law of thermodynamics has an advantage of being direct and, therefore,
successful in avoiding the unnecessary language, it is too abstract for an introductory
course. In this respect the traditional statements of Kelvin–Planck8 and Clausius9 have
advantages, because they relate more closely to common experience about nature and,
hence, are more suitable for an introduction to thermodynamics. However, even in the
traditional approach, a correct definition of a reversible process must make use of Eq.
_1_ because it states the necessary requirement of all reversible processes. Therefore,
the challenge for introductory physics courses is to find a physically reasonable
pedagogical path from the Kelvin Planck and Clausius statements of the second law to
Eq. _1_. I have found that the Carnot cycle provides a good path to get to the
reversibility of a process without running into seemingly ad hoc steps, similar to the
approach suggested by Tobin.10 To be specific, recall that in a Carnot cycle an ideal gas
undergoes four steps quasi-statically, two of which are isothermal and the other two
adiabatic.11 Although the steps in the Carnot cycle are reversible, we do not need their
reversibility
at this stage. Without using the reversibility of the processes,

Irreversible Processes
Thermodynamics generally deals with measurable properties of materials, formulated on the
basis of equilibrium. Thus, properties such as entropy and free energy are, on an appropriate
scale, static and time–invariant during equilibrium. There are other parameters not relevant
to the discussion of equilibrium: thermal conductivity, diffusivity and viscosity, but which are
interesting because they can describe a second kind of time–independence, that of the steady–
state (Denbigh, 1955). Thus, the concentration profile does not change during steady–state
diffusion, even though energy is being dissipated by the diffusion

The thermodynamics of irreversible processes deals with systems which are not at
equilibrium
but are nevertheless stationary. The theory in effect uses thermodynamics to deal with kinetic
phenomena. There is nevertheless, a distinction between the thermodynamics of irreversible
processes and kinetics (Denbigh). The former applies strictly to the steady–state, whereas
there is no such restriction on kinetic theory.

Reversibility
A process whose direction can be changed by an infinitesimal alteration in the external
conditions
is called reversible. Consider the example illustrated in Fig. 1, which deals with the
response of an ideal gas contained at uniform pressure within a cylinder, any change being
achieved by the motion of the piston. For any starting point on the P/V curve, if the
application
of an infinitesimal force causes the piston to move slowly to an adjacent position still on
the curve, then the process is reversible since energy has not been dissipated. The removal of
the infinitesimal force will cause the system to revert to its original state.
On the other hand, if there is friction during the motion of the piston, then deviations occur
from the P/V curve as illustrated by the cycle in Fig. 1. An infinitesimal force cannot move
the piston because energy is dissipated due to friction (as given by the area within the cycle).
Such a process, which involves the dissipation of energy, is classified as irreversible with
respect
to an infinitesimal change in the external conditions.
More generally, reversibility means that it is possible to pass from one state to another
without
appreciable deviation from equilibrium. Real processes are not reversible so equilibrium
thermodynamics can only be used approximately, though the same thermodynamics defines
whether or not a process can occur spontaneously without ambiguity.
For irreversible processes the equations of classical thermodynamics become inequalities. For
example, at the equilibrium melting temperature, the free energies of the liquid and solid
are identical (Gliquid = Gsolid) but not so below that temperature (Gliquid > Gsolid). Such
inequalities are much more difficult to deal with though they indicate the natural direction
of change. For steady–state processes however, the thermodynamic framework for
irreversible
processes as developed by Onsager is particularly useful in approximating relationships even
though the system is not at equilibrium.
The Linear Laws
At equilibrium there is no change in entropy or free energy. An irreversible process dissipates
energy and entropy is created continuously. In the example illustrated in Fig. 1, the
dissipation
References
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