Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

The Zeroth Law is the basis for the measurement of

temperature. It states that:

If two thermodynamic systems are in thermal equilibrium

with a third system separately are in thermal equilibrium with
each other.
Zeroth Law Of Thermodynamics Examples:

• consider two cups A and B with boiling water.

• When a thermometer is placed in cup A, it gets warmed up by the water until it reads
100°C.
• When it read 100°C, we say that the thermometer is in equilibrium with cup A.
• Now when we move the thermometer to cup B to read the temperature, it continues to
read 100°C.
• The thermometer is also in equilibrium with cup B.
• From keeping in mind the zeroth law of thermodynamics, we can conclude that
cup A and cup B are in equilibrium with each other.
• The zeroth law of thermodynamics enables us to use thermometers to compare the
temperature of any two objects that we like.
First Law of Thermodynamics

The first law of thermodynamics which is also known as

the conservation of energy principle states that:

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but it can be changed

from one form to another.

This law may seem abstract but if we look at a few examples of the first
law of thermodynamics, we will get a clearer idea.
First Law Of Thermodynamics Examples:

• Fans convert electrical energy to mechanical energy.

• Plants convert the radiant energy of sunlight to chemical energy
 through photosynthesis. We eat plants and convert the chemical
energy into kinetic energy while we swim, walk, breathe and when we
scroll through this page.
Second Law of Thermodynamics

The second law of thermodynamics states that:

Energy in the form of heat only flows from regions of higher

temperature to that of lower temperature.

Many individuals take this statement lightly and for granted, but it has
an extensive impact and consequence. This is why it costs money to run
an air conditioner. The human body obeys the second law of
thermodynamics too.
Second Law Of Thermodynamics Examples

One of the examples of the second law of thermodynamics can be

sweating in a crowded room. Assume yourself to be in a small room full
of people. You are very likely to feel warm and start sweating. Sweating
is a mechanism the human body uses to cool itself. Here, the heat from
your body is transferred to sweat. As the sweat absorbs more and more
heat from the body it evaporates and transfers heat to the surrounding
air, thereby, heating up the temperature of the room.
Thermodynamic Properties:

• Thermodynamic properties may be extensive or intensive.

• Intensive properties are properties that do not depend on the
quantity of matter.
• For example, pressure and temperature are intensive properties.
• In the case of extensive properties, their value depends on the mass
of the system.
• For example, volume, energy, and enthalpy are extensive properties.
What is Enthalpy?

• Enthalpy is the measurement of energy in a thermodynamic system.

The quantity of enthalpy equals the total content of heat of a system,
equivalent to the system’s internal energy plus the product of volume
and pressure.
• Mathematically, the enthalpy, H, equals the sum of the 
internal energy, E, and the product of the pressure, P, and volume, V,
of the system.
H=E+PV
What is Entropy?
The entropy is a thermodynamic quantity whose value depends on the
physical state or condition of a system. In other words, it is a
thermodynamic function used to measure the randomness or
disorder of a system.

For example, the entropy of a solid, where the particles are not free to
move, is less than the entropy of a gas, where the particles will fill the
container.
Thermodynamics – Summary and Overview
• → In simple terms, thermodynamics deals with the transfer of energy from one form
to another.
→ The laws of thermodynamics are:
• First law of thermodynamics: Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, it can
only be transferred from one form to another.
• Second law of thermodynamics: The entropy of any isolated system always
increases.
• Zeroth law of thermodynamics: If two thermodynamic systems are in thermal
equilibrium with a third system separately are in thermal equilibrium with each
other.
Entropy is the measure of the number of possible arrangements the atoms in a system
can have.
Enthalpy is the measurement of energy in a thermodynamic system.
What is a Carnot Engine?

• Carnot engine is a theoretical thermodynamic cycle proposed

by Leonard Carnot. It gives the estimate of the maximum possible
efficiency that a heat engine during the conversion process of heat
into work and conversely, working between two reservoirs, can
possess.
• According to Carnot Theorem:
Any system working between two given temperatures T1 (hot reservoir)
and T2 (cold reservoir), can never have an efficiency more than the
Carnot engine working between the same reservoirs respectively.
Carnot Cycle:

A Carnot cycle is defined as an ideal reversible closed thermodynamic

cycle in which there are four successive operations involved, and they
are isothermal expansion, adiabatic expansion, isothermal
compression, and adiabatic compression. During these operations, the
expansion and compression of substance can be done up to the desired
point and back to the initial state.
• Following are the four processes of the Carnot cycle:
• In (a), the process is reversible isothermal gas expansion. In this process, the
amount of heat absorbed by the ideal gas is qin from the heat source, which
is at a temperature of Th. The gas expands and does work on the
surroundings.
• In (b), the process is reversible adiabatic gas expansion. Here, the system is
thermally insulated, and the gas continues to expand and work is done on
the surroundings. Now the temperature is lower, Tl.
• In (c), the process is reversible isothermal gas compression process. Here, the
heat loss qout occurs when the surroundings do the work at temperature Tl.
• In (d), the process is reversible adiabatic gas compression. Again the system
is thermally insulated. The temperature again rises back to Th as the
surrounding continue to do their work on the gas.
Cyclic process
• In a cyclic process, the system starts and returns to the same
thermodynamic state.
• The net work involved is the enclosed area on the P-V diagram. If the
cycle goes clockwise, the system does work. A cyclic process is the
underlying principle for an engine.
• If the cycle goes counterclockwise, work is done on the system every
cycle. An example of such a system is a refrigerator or air conditioner.