The field of thermodynamics studies the behavior of\u00a0energy<\/b>\u00a0flow in natural systems. From this study, a number of physical laws have been established. The\u00a0laws of thermodynamics<\/b>\u00a0describe some of the fundamental truths of thermodynamics observed in our\u00a0Universe<\/b>. Understanding these laws is important to students of Physical Geography because many of the processes studied involve the flow of energy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
First Law of Thermodynamics<\/b><\/p>\n
The first law of thermodynamics is often called the\u00a0Law of Conservation of Energy<\/i><\/b>. This law suggests that\u00a0energy<\/b>\u00a0can be transferred from one\u00a0system<\/b>\u00a0to another in many forms. Also, it can not be\u00a0created<\/i><\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0destroyed<\/i><\/b>. Thus, the total amount of energy available in the Universe is constant. Einstein’s famous equation (written\u00a0below<\/b>) describes the relationship between energy and\u00a0matter<\/b>:<\/p>\n
E = mc2<\/sup><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n In the equation above,\u00a0energy<\/b>\u00a0(E<\/b>) is equal to\u00a0matter<\/b>\u00a0(m<\/b>) times the square of a constant (c<\/b>). Einstein suggested that energy and matter are interchangeable. His equation also suggests that the quantity of energy and matter in the Universe is fixed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Second Law of Thermodynamics<\/b><\/p>\n Heat<\/b>\u00a0cannot be transfer from a colder to a hotter body. As a result of this fact of thermodynamics, natural processes that involve energy transfer must have one direction, and all natural processes are irreversible. This law also predicts that the\u00a0entropy<\/b>\u00a0of an isolated system always increases with time. Entropy is the measure of the disorder or randomness of\u00a0energy<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0matter<\/b>\u00a0in a system. Because of the second law of thermodynamics both energy and matter in the\u00a0Universe<\/b>\u00a0are becoming less useful as time goes on. Perfect order in the Universe occurred the instant after the\u00a0Big Bang<\/b>\u00a0when energy and matter and all of the forces of the Universe were unified.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Third Law of Thermodynamics<\/b><\/p>\n The third law of thermodynamics states that if all the thermal motion of\u00a0molecules<\/b>\u00a0(kinetic energy<\/b>) could be removed, a state called\u00a0absolute zero<\/b>\u00a0would occur. Absolute zero results in a\u00a0temperature<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>of 0\u00a0Kelvins<\/b>\u00a0or -273.15\u00b0\u00a0Celsius<\/b>.<\/p>\n Absolute Zero<\/b>\u00a0=\u00a0<\/b>0 Kelvins<\/b>\u00a0=\u00a0<\/b>-273.15\u00b0 Celsius<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n The Universe will attain absolute zero when all energy and matter is randomly distributed across space. The current temperature of empty space in the Universe is about 2.7 Kelvins.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Laws of Thermodynamics Notes The field of thermodynamics studies the behavior of\u00a0energy\u00a0flow in natural systems. From this study, a number of physical laws have been established. The\u00a0laws of thermodynamics\u00a0describe some of the fundamental truths of thermodynamics observed in our\u00a0Universe. Understanding these laws is important to students of Physical Geography because many of the processes studied … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":""},"categories":[4773],"tags":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28734\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kopykitab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}