Work (thermodynamics)
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| Thermodynamic potentials | |
|---|---|
| Internal energy | |
| Helmholtz free energy | |
| Enthalpy | |
| Gibbs free energy | |
| [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ] | |
In thermodynamics, thermodynamic work is the quantity of energy transfered from one system to another. It is a generalization of the concept of mechanical work in mechanics. In the SI system of measurement, work is measured in joules (symbol: J). The rate at which work is performed is power.
Overview
According to the First Law of Thermodynamics, it is useful to separate changes to the internal energy of a thermodynamic system into two sorts of energy transfers. Work refers to forms of energy transfer, which can be accounted for in terms of changes in the macroscopic physical variables of the system, for example energy which goes into expanding the volume of a system against an external pressure, by say driving a piston-head out of a cylinder against an external force. This is in distinction to heat energy carried into or out of the system in the form of transfers in the microscopic thermal motions of particles.The concept of thermodynamic work is a little more general than that of mechanical work, because it also includes other energy transfers, i.e. for example electrical work, the movement of charge against an external electrical field to charge up a battery say, which may or may not necessarily be thought of as strictly mechanical in nature.
Mathematical definition
As stipulated to the First Law of Thermodynamics, any net increase in the internal energy U of a thermodynamic system must be fully accounted for, in terms of heat δQ entering the system less work δW done by the system:
- [dU = \delta Q - \delta W\;]
Pressure-volume work
Chemical thermodynamics studies PV work, which occurs when the volume of a fluid changes. PV work is represented by the following differential equation:
- [dW = -P dV \,]
- W = work done on the system
- P = external pressure
- V = volume
- [W=-\int_^ P\,dV]
From a mathematical point of view, that is to say, [dW] is not an exact one-form. This line through is merely a flag to warn us there is actually no function (0-form) [W] which is the potential of [dW]. If there were, indeed, this function [W], we should be able to just use Stokes Theorem, and evaluate this putative function, the potential of [dW], at the boundary of the path, that is, the initial and final points, and therefore the work would be a state function. This impossibility is consistent with the fact that it does not make sense to refer to the work on a point; work presupposes a path.
PV work is often measured in the (non-SI) units of litre-atmospheres, where 1 L·atm = 101.3 J.
Free energy and exergy
The amount of useful work which can be extracted from a thermodynamic system is discussed in the article Second Law of Thermodynamics. Under many practical situations this can be represented by the thermodynamic Availability or Exergy function. Two important cases are thermodynamic systems where the temperature and volume are held constant in which the measure of "useful" work attainable reduces to the Helmholtz free energy function; and systems where the temperature and pressure are held constant in which the measure of "useful" work attainable reduces to the Gibbs free energy.See also
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