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The ancient Greek understanding of physics was limited to the statics of simple machines (the balance of forces), and did not include dynamics or the concept of work. During the Renaissance the dynamics of the Mechanical Powers, as the simple machines were called, began to be studied from the standpoint of how far they could lift a load, in addition to the force they could apply, leading ...
Thermodynamic work is one of the principal kinds of process by which a thermodynamic system can interact with and transfer energy to its surroundings. This results in externally measurable macroscopic forces on the system's surroundings, which can cause mechanical work, to lift a weight, for example, [1] or cause changes in electromagnetic, [2] [3] [4] or gravitational [5] variables.
In the history of science, the mechanical equivalent of heat states that motion and heat are mutually interchangeable and that in every case, a given amount of work would generate the same amount of heat, provided the work done is totally converted to heat energy.
The net work equals the area inside because it is (a) the Riemann sum of work done on the substance due to expansion, minus (b) the work done to re-compress. Because the net variation in state properties during a thermodynamic cycle is zero, it forms a closed loop on a P-V diagram .
The photoelectric work function is the minimum photon energy required to liberate an electron from a substance, in the photoelectric effect. If the photon's energy is greater than the substance's work function, photoelectric emission occurs and the electron is liberated from the surface. Similar to the thermionic case described above, the ...
Exergy, often referred to as "available energy" or "useful work potential", is a fundamental concept in the field of thermodynamics and engineering.It plays a crucial role in understanding and quantifying the quality of energy within a system and its potential to perform useful work.
Free energy is subject to irreversible loss in the course of such work. [1] Since first-law energy is always conserved, it is evident that free energy is an expendable, second-law kind of energy. Several free energy functions may be formulated based on system criteria. Free energy functions are Legendre transforms of the internal energy.
For the process to be natural, either (a) work must be done on the system at a finite rate, so that the internal energy of the system increases; the entropy of the system increases even though it is thermally insulated; or (b) the system must do work on the surroundings, which then suffer increase of entropy, as well as gaining energy from the ...