TITLE:
Dialectical Thermodynamics’ Solution to the Conceptual Imbroglio That Is the Reversible Path
AUTHORS:
José C. Íñiguez
KEYWORDS:
Thermodynamic Reversibility, Solution to Inconsistencies, Dialectical Thermodynamics
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of High Energy Physics, Gravitation and Cosmology,
Vol.10 No.2,
April
23,
2024
ABSTRACT: According to the second law of thermodynamics, as currently understood, any given transit of a system along the reversible path proceeds with a total entropy change equal to zero. The fact that this condition is also the identifier of thermodynamic equilibrium, makes each and every point along the reversible path a state of equilibrium, and the reversible path, as expressed by a noted thermodynamic author, “a dense succession of equilibrium states”. The difficulties with these notions are plural. The fact, for example, that systems need to be forced out of equilibrium via the expenditure of work, would make any spontaneous reversible process a consumer of work, this in opposition to common thermodynamic wisdom that makes spontaneous reversible processes the most efficient transformers of work-producing-potential into actual work. The solution to this and other related impasses is provided by Dialectical Thermodynamics via its previously proved notion assigning a negative entropy change to the energy upgrading process represented by the transformation of heat into work. The said solution is here exemplified with the ideal-gas phase isomerization of butane into isobutane.