The second law of thermodynamics

The Second law of thermodynamics There are four laws of thermodynamics, which define temperature, energy and entropy, characterizing thermodynamic systems. To understand the second law of thermodynamics we should know that on a basic level it explains the “catch twenty-twos” to the first law of thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics says that energy can never be created nor destroyed, only transferred to another form of energy. The second law states that some processes do not take place even while consistent with the first law. The second law of thermodynamics applies to all forms of energy and has to do with the disorder of the system; entropy. Entropy can be produced, but never destroyed. In the universe entropy never decreases. Entropy in units of kilojoules per kilograms kelvin is equal to the enthalpy in kilojoules per kilogram divided by two times the absolute temperature in units of kelvin.

There are two similar statements pertaining to the second law of thermodynamics. The first theory of the second law of thermodynamics was made by Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot in 1824. Clausius was the first to formulate the second law in 1850. His statement was that “no machine whose working fluid undergoes a cycle can absorb heat from one system, reject heat from another, and produce no effect”. Following these came about another statement made by Kelvin and Plank which said “no heat engine whose working fluid undergoes a cycle can absorb heat from one reservoir, deliver an equal amount of work and deliver no other effects”. One example of the second law of thermodynamics is when you place a can of soda into a cooler of ice. Though some may think that the ice is cooling down the soda, the soda is actually heating up the ice. The warmth from the soda is being absorbed into the ice, melting the ice and causing the soda to be colder because the heat was drawn out of it. This is because heat in any system cannot flow from something that is colder into