Can a "miserly" system, with a concave-up entropy-energy graph, ever be in stable thermal equilibrium with another system? Explain.

Short Answer

Expert verified

No, a "miserly" system, with a concave-up entropy-energy graph, cannot be in stable thermal equilibrium with another system.

Step by step solution

01

Given Introduction

If two objects are in thermal equilibrium, their temperatures are said to be the same. It can be expressed in terms of the system's entropy and energy, the measure of randomness being the entropy. It is determined by the amount of energy that is not available for work.

02

Explanation

Mathematically, temperature can be defined as:

1T=SU

Where,

Sis the change in entropy and Uis the change in the internal energy of the body.

Systems in thermal equilibrium have the same temperature because their entropy-versus-energy graphs have the same slopes. The systems are coupled by gravity in a concave-up graph between entropy-energy graphs, and the temperature lowers when energy is supplied because the energy is stored as potential energy and the average kinetic energy is reduced. To put it another way, the heat capacity is negative. The entropy energy plot will thus be concave up in that situation.

Assume that there are two miserly systems, A and B. The temperature for both systems is the same. When energy is transmitted from system B to system A, system B becomes hotter, and a runway effect is observed because more energy is transferred spontaneously from system B to system A. As a result, the temperature of system B rises significantly above the temperature of system A.

As a result, two miserly systems can exist in thermal equilibrium with one another. These systems, however, are not stable.

03

Final answer

Hence, a "miserly" system, with a concave-up entropy-energy graph, cannot be in stable thermal equilibrium with another system.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The results of either of the two preceding problems can also be applied to the vibrational motions of gas molecules. Looking only at the vibrational contribution to the heat capacity graph for H2shown in Figure 1.13, estimate the value of εfor the vibrational motion of anH2 molecule.

Use the definition of temperature to prove the zeroth law of thermodynamics, which says that if system A is in thermal equilibrium with system B, and system B is in thermal equilibrium with system C, then system A is in thermal equilibrium with system C. (If this exercise seems totally pointless to you, you're in good company: Everyone considered this "law" to be completely obvious until 1931, when Ralph Fowler pointed out that it was an unstated assumption of classical thermodynamics.)

Polymers, like rubber, are made of very long molecules, usually tangled up in a configuration that has lots of entropy. As a very crude model of a rubber band, consider a chain of N links, each of length (see Figure 3.17). Imagine that each link has only two possible states, pointing either left or right. The total length L of the rubber band is the net displacement from the beginning of the first link to the end of the last link.

(a) Find an expression for the entropy of this system in terms of N and NR, the number of links pointing to the right.
(b) Write down a formula for L in terms of N and NR.
(c) For a one-dimensional system such as this, the length L is analogous to the volume V of a three-dimensional system. Similarly, the pressure P is replaced by the tension force F. Taking F to be positive when the rubber band is pulling inward, write down and explain the appropriate thermodynamic identity for this system.
(d) Using the thermodynamic identity, you can now express the tension force F in terms of a partial derivative of the entropy. From this expression, compute the tension in terms of L, T, N, and .
(e) Show that when L << N, the tension force is directly proportional to L (Hooke's law).
(f) Discuss the dependence of the tension force on temperature. If you increase the temperature of a rubber band, does it tend to expand or contract? Does this behavior make sense?
(g) Suppose that you hold a relaxed rubber band in both hands and suddenly stretch it. Would you expect its temperature to increase or decrease? Explain. Test your prediction with a real rubber band (preferably a fairly heavy one with lots of stretch), using your lips or forehead as a thermometer. (Hint: The entropy you computed in part (a) is not the total entropy of the rubber band. There is additional entropy associated with the vibrational energy of the molecules; this entropy depends on U but is approximately independent of L.)

In order to take a nice warm bath, you mix 50 liters of hot water at 55°C with 25 liters of cold water at 10°C. How much new entropy have you created by mixing the water?

Figure 3.3 shows graphs of entropy vs. energy for two objects, A and B. Both graphs are on the same scale. The energies of these two objects initially have the values indicated; the objects are then brought into thermal contact with each other. Explain what happens subsequently and why, without using the word "temperature."

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