raju
Last Activity: 10 Years ago
The third law of thermodynamics is sometimes stated as follows, regarding the properties of systems in equilibrium at absolute zero temperature:
The entropy of a perfect crystal, at absolute zero kelvin, is exactly equal to zero.
At zero kelvin the system must be in a state with the minimum possible energy, and this statement of the third law holds true if the perfect crystal has only one minimum energy state. Entropy is related to the number of possible microstates, and for a system containing a certain collection of particles, quantum mechanics indicates that there is only one unique state (called the ground state) with minimum energy.[1] If the system does not have a well-defined order (if its order is glassy, for example), then in practice there will remain some finite entropy as the system is brought to very low temperatures as the system becomes locked into a configuration with non-minimal energy. The constant value is called the residual entropy of the system.[2]
The Nernst-Simon statement of the third law of thermodynamics is in regard to thermodynamic processes, and whether it is possible to achieve absolute zero in practice:
The entropy change associated with any condensed system undergoing a reversible isothermal process approaches zero as temperature approaches 0 K, where condensed system refers to liquids and solids.
A simpler formulation of the Nernst-Simon statement might be:
It is impossible for any process, no matter how idealized, to reduce the entropy of a system to its absolute-zero value in a finite number of operations.
Physically, the Nernst-Simon statement implies that it is impossible for any procedure to bring a system to the absolute zero of temperature in a finite number of steps.[3]