YOU CAN'T WIN. YOU CAN'T BREAK-EVEN. YOU can't get out of the GAME! (Part 3 of 5)
By Herve Bensabat

One, two, three... Zero!

Zeroth law (thermodynamic equilibrium) can briefly be stated as:

Two systems in thermal equilibrium with a third are in thermal equilibrium with each other. (Page 6, Zemansky, Heat and Thermodynamics, 5th ed.)

Essentially, if systems A and B are in thermodynamic equilibrium, and systems B and C are in thermodynamic equilibrium, then systems A and C are also in thermodynamic equilibrium.

The zeroth law can be expressed formally as:

A ~ B , B~ C -> A ~ C

Although often considered more fundamental than the other laws, the need to state it as law didn't arise until the 1930‘s, long after the first three laws were already widely recognized, hence the zero numbering- a term often credited to Ralph H. Fowler.

The 1st law (conservation of energy) can briefly be stated as:

The quantity of energy supplied to any isolated system in the form of heat is equal to the work done by the system plus the change in internal energy of the system. (Page 194, Williams et al., Modern Physics, 1980 ed.)

Much of the work of the first law is attributed to the French physicist Sadi Carnot in 1824. Since energy can neither be created nor destroyed it transforms from one form to another so the sum of mass and energy is always conserved. However, the law failed to recognize that not all circumstances that conserve energy ensue naturally. His ‘Carnot Heat Engine' was meant to have a work output equal to that of its heat input thus being 100% efficient i.e. losing no energy in the process. He later concluded that no machine could accomplish work without some loss of energy to the environment. The irrevocable loss of some energy to the environment was associated with an increase of disorder in that system.

The 2nd law (Entropy) can briefly be stated as:

It is not possible to construct an engine whose sole effect is the extraction of heat from a heat source at a single temperature and the conversion of this heat completely into mechanical work. (Page 202, Williams et al . )

The Second Law can also be stated as the Law of Entropy- that in any natural process, the entropy (quantitative measure of disorder or randomness) of the universe increases.

In 1850, Rudolph Clausius began formulation of the second law by stating that heat does not spontaneously flow from cold to hot bodies which was contrary to common beliefs and the Caloric Theory of heat at that time.

It was in 1865 that he came up with the definition of entropy. Entropy, the variable ‘S', represents chaos or disorder in a system whereby a greater degree of entropy signifies higher disorder and a low entropy signifies a highly ordered state. This can be algebraically represented as:

ΔS = Q / T

where, the change in entropy (ΔS) is equal to the amount of heat (Q) added to the system divided by the temperature (T) in degrees Kelvin.

The 3rd law (absolute zero) can briefly be stated as:

By no finite series of processes is the absolute zero attainable. (Page 498, Zemansky.)

Developed by Walter Nernst around 1906, (also known as Nernst's Theorem), it essentially describes the behaviour of energy and matter as temperatures approach absolute zero. Essentially, all processes cease as thermodynamic temperature approaches zero i.e. as temperature goes to zero, the entropy of a system approaches a constant.

To show the thermodynamic efficiency of a heat machine, Carnot had come up with an equation (still currently in use today) to demonstrate that for a machine to attain full efficiency, temperatures of absolute zero would have to be considered:

e = 1 - (TL / TH)

where, the efficiency of a heat machine (e) is equal to one minus the low operating temperature of the machine in degrees Kelvin (TL), divided by the high operating temperature of the machine in degrees Kelvin (TH).

Reaching absolute zero was eventually proved impossible by the 3rd law.

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