Reversible & Irreversible

Processes

Reversible Process
A process that, once having taken place, can
be reversed and in doing so leaves no
change in either the system or the
surroundings
Net work and net heat transfer must be zero
A reversible process is an ideal that we never
achieve all processes are irreversible

Why do we study reversible

processes?
They are ideals that we can shoot for.
They are standards to which we can
compare different processes.

Irreversibilities
Irreversibilities are what cause a process to
be irreversible

Friction
Unrestrained expansion
Heat transfer through a finite temperature
difference
Mixing of different substances
Others (chemical reactions, inelastic deformation
of solids, electric resistance, hysteresis effects)

Internal vs. External

Irreversibilities
External irreversibilities occur outside
the system youre looking at.
Internal irreversibilities occur inside the
system youre looking at.
A totally reversible system is internally &
externally reversible.

Example 1
A gas in an insulated tank is separated
from an evacuated region by a
membrane. The membrane is removed
and the gas expands.
Internally or externally reversible? Or
neither?

Example 2

Control Volume Boundary

Temperature=T

Which heat transfer process is irreversible? If

the system is the piston, is the irreversibility
internal or external?

Carnot Cycle (1824)

A reversible cycle to which we compare all
other cycles; an ideal to shoot for
Four processes:

Reversible isothermal expansion

Reversible adiabatic expansion
Reversible isothermal compression
Reversible adiabatic compression

Will we ever achieve this cycle in real life?