Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics

  • Submitted By: joelc777
  • Date Submitted: 06/22/2015 4:06 PM
  • Category: Science
  • Words: 417
  • Page: 2

 The first and second laws of thermodynamics are essential to the explanation of how energy presents itself on Earth. The first law of thermodynamics states that “Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed.” The second law states that “in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state." Simply put, the first law states that energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is transformed into a different kind of energy. For example, the human body uses energy in order to function. When a person ingests food, that food in converted into energy, which will allow that person’s heart to function, which will allow them to breathe and walk; the energy received from the food in converted into energy for the human body to carry out its daily tasks.
The second law of thermodynamics is better understood if the term entropy is introduced. Entropy is the process of degradation of energy, in other words, energy that is not available to be used in a useful manner. A great example is presented by Farabee (2010), “A car that has run out of gas will not run again until you walk 10 miles to a gas station and refuel the car.” This is a task that many people can relate to since the majority of people know that the automobile will eventually need to be refilled with more energy that it may consume. The manner in which plants and animals consume food is also related to the second law of thermodynamics. When asked the question, “Why can a barrel of oil be used only once as a fuel source, or in other words, why can we not recycle high-quality energy resources?”, Arthur Smith (2009) has a great explanation. The reason we cannot recycle of barrel of oil as a fuel source is simply because the “useful” energy in that barrel of oil has already been used up. Even though the first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or...

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