Opinion Article, J Phys Res Appl Vol: 6 Issue: 1

Details about thermodynamics and Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

Sameera Dipti^*

Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India

*Corresponding Author:Sameera Dipti
Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India
E-mail:dipti_s@gmail.com

Received:  08 December, 2021, Manuscript No. JPRA-22-60639;
Editor assigned: 10 December, 2021, Pre QC No. JPRA-22-60639 (PQ);
Reviewed: 24 December, 2021, QC No. JPRA-22-60639;
Revised: 29 December, 2021, Manuscript No. JPRA-22-60639 (R);
Published: 07 January, 2022, DOI:10.4172/ J Phys Res Appl.6.1.5

Keywords: Electromagnetism

Description

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which convey a quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical quantities, but may be explained in terms of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics. Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics in science and engineering, especially physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering, but also in other complex fields such as meteorology.

Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the efficiency of early steam engines, particularly through the work of French physicist Sadi Carnot (1824) who believed that engine efficiency was the key that could help France win the Napoleonic Wars. Scots-Irish physicist Lord Kelvin was the first to formulate a concise definition of thermodynamics in 1854 which stated, "Thermo-dynamics is the subject of the relation of heat to forces acting between contiguous parts of bodies, and the relation of heat to electrical agency."

Law of Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is a very important branch of both physics and chemistry. It deals with the study of energy, the conversion of energy between different forms and the ability of energy to do work. As you go through this article, I am pretty sure that you will begin to appreciate the importance of thermodynamics and you will start noticing how laws of thermodynamics operate in your daily lives! There are essentially four laws of thermodynamics.

Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

This statement implies that thermal equilibrium is an equivalence relation on the set of thermodynamic systems under consideration. Systems are said to be in equilibrium if the small, random exchanges between them (e.g. Brownian motion) do not lead to a net change in energy. This law is tacitly assumed in every measurement of temperature. Thus, if one seeks to decide whether two bodies are at the same temperature, it is not necessary to bring them into contact and measure any changes of their observable properties in time. The law provides an empirical definition of temperature, and justification for the construction of practical thermometers.

The zeroth law was not initially recognized as a separate law of thermodynamics, as its basis in thermodynamical equilibrium was implied in the other laws. The first, second, and third laws had been explicitly stated already, and found common acceptance in the physics community before the importance of the zeroth law for the definition of temperature was realized. As it was impractical to renumber the other laws, it was named the zeroth law.

Let’s first define what ‘thermal equilibrium’ is. When two systems are in contact with each other and no energy flow takes place between them, then the two systems are said to be in thermal equilibrium with each other. In simple words, thermal equilibrium means that the two systems are at the same temperature. Thermal equilibrium is a concept that is so integral to our daily lives. For instance, let's say you have a bowl of hot soup and you put it in the freezer. What will happen to the soup? The soup will, of course, start cooling down with time. You all know that. And you also probably know that the soup will continue to cool down until it reaches the same temperature as the freezer. Even if you are familiar with this concept, what you may not realize is that this is an excellent example of thermal equilibrium. Here, heat flows from the system at a higher temperature (bowl of soup) to the system at a lower temperature (freezer).

Later designs implemented a steam release valve that kept the machine from exploding. By watching the valve rhythmically move up and down, Papin conceived of the idea of a piston and a cylinder engine. He did not, however, follow through with his design. Nevertheless, in 1697, based on Papin's designs, engineer Thomas Savery built the first engine, followed by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. Although these early engines were crude and inefficient, they attracted the attention of the leading scientists of the time.

The fundamental concepts of heat capacity and latent heat, which were necessary for the development of thermodynamics, were developed by Professor Joseph Black at the University of Glasgow, where James Watt was employed as an instrument maker. Black and Watt performed experiments together, but it was Watt who conceived the idea of the external condenser which resulted in a large increase in steam engine efficiency. Drawing on all the previous work led Sadi Carnot, the "father of thermodynamics", to publish Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire (1824), a discourse on heat, power, energy and engine efficiency. The book outlined the basic energetic relations between the Carnot engine, the Carnot cycle, and motive power. It marked the start of thermodynamics as a modern science.

Equilibrium thermodynamics is the study of transfers of matter and energy in systems or bodies that, by agencies in their surroundings, can be driven from one state of thermodynamic equilibrium to another. The term 'thermodynamic equilibrium' indicates a state of balance, in which all macroscopic flows are zero; in the case of the simplest systems or bodies, their intensive properties are homogeneous, and their pressures are perpendicular to their boundaries. In an equilibrium state there are no unbalanced potentials, or driving forces, between macroscopically distinct parts of the system. A central aim in equilibrium thermodynamics is: given a system in a well-defined initial equilibrium state, and given its surroundings, and given its constitutive walls, to calculate what will be the final equilibrium state of the system after a specified thermodynamic operation has changed its walls or surroundings.

The first thermodynamic textbook was written in 1859 by William Rankine, originally trained as a physicist and a civil and mechanical engineering professor at the University of Glasgow. The first and second laws of thermodynamics emerged simultaneously in the 1850s, primarily out of the works of William Rankine, Rudolf Clausius, and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin). The foundations of statistical thermodynamics were set out by physicists such as James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann, Max Planck, Rudolf Clausius and J. Willard Gibbs.