State Functions and Entropy
If Z is a state function then the balance of Z remains unchanged during a cyclic process:
- .
Entropy is a state function and is defined as
so that
- ,
then it is clear that for any cyclic process,
meaning that the net entropy change over a cycle is 0.
Read more about this topic: Thermodynamic Cycle
Famous quotes containing the words state, functions and/or entropy:
“till disproportion’d sin
Jarr’d against natures chime, and with harsh din
Broke the fair musick that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion sway’d
In perfect Diapason, whilst they stood
In first obedience, and their state of good.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“Those things which now most engage the attention of men, as politics and the daily routine, are, it is true, vital functions of human society, but should be unconsciously performed, like the corresponding functions of the physical body.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Just as the constant increase of entropy is the basic law of the universe, so it is the basic law of life to be ever more highly structured and to struggle against entropy.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)