State the first law of thermodynamics in terms of (a) the...

Name: Problem 3, Chapter 20: Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change
Uploaded: 2020-04-12T20:11:35-08:00
Duration: 5 min 12 s
Channel: Duc Vu
Description: State the first law of thermodynamics in terms of (a) the energy of the universe; (b) the creation or destruction of energy; (c) the energy change of system and surroundings. Does the first law reveal the direction of spontaneous change? Explain.

State the first law of thermodynamics in terms of (a) the energy of the universe; (b) the creation or destruction of energy; (c) the energy change of system and surroundings. Does the first law reveal the direction of spontaneous change? Explain.

Key Concepts

First Law of Thermodynamics

This law states that energy in an isolated system is conserved—it can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed from one form to another. It highlights that the total energy of the universe remains constant, which is a foundational principle in thermodynamics.

Energy Conservation

Energy conservation is the principle that energy can change forms but the total amount of energy remains constant. It is applied to both the universe as a whole and to individual systems, ensuring that any energy change in a system is balanced by an opposite change in its surroundings.

System and Surroundings

This concept involves dividing the universe into the system under study and its surroundings. Analyzing energy changes in both is crucial; the first law requires that the energy lost or gained by the system is exactly counterbalanced by an energy gain or loss in the surroundings, maintaining overall energy conservation.

Spontaneous Processes

While the first law deals with the conservation of energy, it does not indicate the direction in which processes spontaneously occur. That determination is made by the second law of thermodynamics, which considers entropy changes to predict the spontaneity of a reaction or process.

Transcript

00:02 So, we are asked to describe the, or we're asked to state the first law of thermodynamics in three different ways.

00:10 So actually, if you go back to chapter 6 in the textbook, there's an entire section about it.

00:17 But, so, the first way, and about, in describing it in terms of the energy of the universe, what it's saying is that the change in energy of the universe is always zero.

00:30 Okay, so in any reaction, there's always energy.

00:33 From somewhere.

00:35 Okay? the energy in the entire universe has started at some point and it will end at some point.

00:40 And in that time, no energy would have been created or destroyed, which is a actually pretty good segue into our next, the next way is the conservation of energy.

00:54 And the conservation of energy is basically the idea that energy can either be destroyed nor created.

00:59 It can only be shifted around.

01:01 And actually, this bit right here should have been in the next.

01:03 Next page but i'll use it here to describe the conservation of energy.

01:10 So essentially, like i said, energy can't be created or destroy.

01:15 It can only be shifted around.

01:16 Like energy can be here.

01:18 Energy can be here.

01:20 Say energy can be over here.

01:22 But what i can't do is i can't do this.

01:25 I can't take away energy...