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In thermodynamics, it does not matter how or at what rate the energy transformations are carried out. Then why have we defined various types of processes ( adiabatic, etc) which clearly depend on how the change takes place?

In thermodynamics, it does not matter how or at what rate the energy transformations are carried out. Then why have we defined various types of processes ( adiabatic, etc) which clearly depend on how the change takes place?

Grade:11

1 Answers

Sakshi
askIITians Faculty 652 Points
8 years ago
Dear student,

The explaination to this question can be cleared only if you focus on the basics of thermodynamics and kinetics.
Itis important to mention that a chemical reaction has kinetic and thermodynamic aspects. The quantity related to kinetics is the rate constantk; The thermodynamic quantity is the energy difference resulting from the free energy (ΔG)given off during a chemical reaction—the stability of the products relative to the reactants.
Although kinetics describes the rates of reactions and how fast equilibrium is reached, it gives no information about conditions once the reaction equilibrates. In the same measure, thermodynamics only gives information regarding the equilibrium conditions of products after the reaction takes place, but does not explain the rate of reaction.
A thermodynamic process is a passage of a thermodynamic system from an initial state to a final state.
So, it wont be wrong to say that in thermodynamics, it does not matter how fast the energy changes take place. Now, during the defination of various thermodynamic process, we focus not on the rate of energy changes but only on the type of energy changes taking place.

I hope this explaination will be useful!!

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