Log out Go to App
Go to App

Learning Materials

Features

Discover

Chapter 12: Q6CP (page 485)

You see a movie in which a shallow puddle of water coalesces into a perfectly cubical ice cube. How do you know the movie is being played backwards? Otherwise, what physical principle would be violated?

Short Answer

Expert verified

A violation of the second rule of thermodynamics would be very unlikely; the entropy of the Universe is lowered as a result of this process.

Step by step solution

01

Concept of the second law of thermodynamics

More and more energy is lost in the process of converting a source of heat into a new one.A thermodynamic law is one of four that define the connection between thermal energy (heat), as well as other types of energy, and how they interact with matter.

02

Evaluating entropy

Entropy is the method for determining the level of order in a system if we increase the entropy of any system, the change in the thermodynamic system's state of disorder that occurs when heat or enthalpy is converted into work.

Thus, the second law of thermodynamics will be violated.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Start your free trial

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

How many different ways are there to arrange 4 quanta among 3 atoms in a solid?

Many chemical reactions proceed at rates that depend on the temperature. Discuss this from the point of view of the Boltzmann distribution.

What is the advantage of plotting the (natural) logarithm of the number of ways of arranging the energy among the many atoms (natural logarithm of the number of microstates)?

For a certain metal the stiffness of the interatomic bond and the mass of one atom are such that the spacing of the quantum oscillator energy levels is 1.5×10-23J. A nanoparticle of this metal consisting of atoms has a total thermal energy of role="math" localid="1657867970311" 18×10-23J. (a) What is the entropy of this nanoparticle? (b) The temperature of the nanoparticle is 87 K. Next we add18×10-23 J to the nanoparticle. By how much does the entropy increase?

The reasoning developed for counting microstates applies to many other situations involving probability. For example, if you flip a coin 5 times, how many different sequences of 3 heads and 2 tails are possible? Answer: 10 different sequences, such as HTHHT or TTHHH. In contrast, how many different sequences of 5 heads and 0 tails are possible? Obviously only one, HHHHH, and our equation gives 5!/[5!0!]=1, using the standard definition that 0! is defined to equal 1.

If the coin is equally likely on a single throw to come up heads or tails, any specific sequence like HTHHT or HHHHH is equally likely. However, there is only one way to get HHHHH, while there are 10 ways to get 3 heads and 2 tails, so this is 10times more probable than getting all heads. Use the expression5!/[N!5-N!]to calculate the number of ways to get 0 heads, 1 head, 2 heads, 3 heads, 4 heads, or 5 heads in a sequence of 5 coin tosses. Make a graph of the number of ways vs. the number of heads.
See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Physics Textbooks

Engineering Physics

Read Explanation

Wave Optics

Read Explanation

Circular Motion and Gravitation

Read Explanation

Translational Dynamics

Read Explanation

Rotational Dynamics

Read Explanation

Solid State Physics

Read Explanation
View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free