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Pagdilao Act1

A reversible process is a process whose direction can be reversed by infinitesimal changes to the surroundings, such as pressure or temperature. Examples include freezing and melting of water, boiling and condensation of water, folding and unfolding of paper, and stretching and relaxing of a rubber band. An irreversible process arises frequently in thermodynamics and cannot return the system and environment to their original states. Examples include burning of paper, cooking an egg, rusting of iron, burning of a candle, and falling leaves from a tree. The key difference is that a reversible process maintains thermodynamic equilibrium while an irreversible process does not.

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12 views2 pages

Pagdilao Act1

A reversible process is a process whose direction can be reversed by infinitesimal changes to the surroundings, such as pressure or temperature. Examples include freezing and melting of water, boiling and condensation of water, folding and unfolding of paper, and stretching and relaxing of a rubber band. An irreversible process arises frequently in thermodynamics and cannot return the system and environment to their original states. Examples include burning of paper, cooking an egg, rusting of iron, burning of a candle, and falling leaves from a tree. The key difference is that a reversible process maintains thermodynamic equilibrium while an irreversible process does not.

Uploaded by

Neriah Faith Pagdilao
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is reversible process?

- Reversible process is a process, involving a system and its surroundings, whose direction can be
reversed by infinitesimal changes in some properties of the surroundings, such as pressure or
temperature.

Examples:
 Freezing of water
 If you keep water in the freezer for
some time, it transforms into ice. But as soon as you take it out of the freezer, it turns
into water again.
 Boiling of water
 If you boil water, it evaporates and becomes water vapor. When you cool this vapor
down, it turns back to water.
 Folding of paper
 Folding of a paper is a reversible change because paper can be unfolded to get it back.
 Stretching of rubber band
 If we stretch a rubber band with force of our hands, it undergoes a change and its length
increases. But, on releasing the force, the rubber band comes back to its original length.
 Melting of wax
 Melting of the wax is a reversible change because the shape of the wax can be obtained
by heating it.

What is irreversible process?

- Irreversible arises frequently in thermodynamics. All complex natural processes are irreversible,
although a phase transition at the coexistence temperature is well approximated as reversible.

Examples:
 Burning a piece of paper
 When you burn a piece of paper, it turns to ash. It cannot become paper again.
 Cooking an egg
 Once we cook our eggs, we cannot uncook them. Therefore, cooking is an irreversible
change.
 Rusting of iron
 When water vapour comes in contact with the iron, they react. Therefore, iron rusts and
once this happens, we cannot reverse it.
 Burning of candle
 Burning of a candle is an irreversible change because once the candle melts, the wax
cannot be molded again.
 Falling of leaves from a tree
 Falling of leaves from a tree is irreversible process because we can't attach the leaves
again to tree. So falling of leaves process can’t be in its previous state so it is an
irreversible process.

The basic difference between reversible and irreversible processes is that in the reversible process the
system remains in thermodynamic equilibrium, while in the irreversible process the system does not
remain in thermodynamic equilibrium. A reversible process is one in which both the system and its
environment can return to exactly the states they were in by following the reverse path. While an
irreversible process is one in which the system and its environment cannot return together to exactly
the states that they were in.

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