‫قسم هندسة التكييف و التبريد‬

Report on Isothermal Process

By student: Nory Edham Motlaq

Supervised by : Hussein B. Ismail

Evening Studying

2019-2020
Isothermal Process:

An isothermal process is a change of a system, in which

the temperature remains constant: ΔT =0. This typically occurs when a
system is in contact with an outside thermal reservoir (heat bath), and the
change in the system will occur slowly enough to allow the system to
continue to adjust to the temperature of the reservoir
through heat exchange. In contrast, an adiabatic process is where a
system exchanges no heat with its surroundings (Q = 0). In other words,
in an isothermal process, the value ΔT = 0 and therefore the change
in internal energy ΔU = 0 (only for an ideal gas) but Q ≠ 0, while in an
adiabatic process, ΔT ≠ 0 but Q = 0.

Examples:
Isothermal processes can occur in any kind of system that has some
means of regulating the temperature, including highly
structured machines, and even living cells. Some parts of the cycles of
some heat engines are carried out isothermally (for example, in the Carnot
cycle).[1] In the thermodynamic analysis of chemical reactions, it is usual
to first analyze what happens under isothermal conditions and then
consider the effect of temperature.[2] Phase changes, such
as melting or evaporation, are also isothermal processes when, as is
usually the case, they occur at constant pressure. [3] Isothermal processes
are often used and a starting point in analyzing more complex, non-
isothermal processes.
Isothermal processes are of special interest for ideal gases. This is a
consequence of Joule's second law which states that the internal
energy of a fixed amount of an ideal gas depends only on its temperature.
[4]
 Thus, in an isothermal process the internal energy of an ideal gas is
constant. This is a result of the fact that in an ideal gas there are
no intermolecular forces.[4] Note that this is true only for ideal gases; the
internal energy depends on pressure as well as on temperature for
liquids, solids, and real gases.[5]
In the isothermal compression of a gas there is work done on the system
to decrease the volume and increase the pressure. [4] Doing work on the
gas increases the internal energy and will tend to increase the
temperature. To maintain the constant temperature energy must leave the
system as heat and enter the environment. If the gas is ideal, the amount
of energy entering the environment is equal to the work done on the gas,
because internal energy does not change. For isothermal expansion, the
energy supplied to the system does work on the surroundings. In either
case, with the aid of a suitable linkage the change in gas volume can
perform useful mechanical work. For details of the calculations,
see calculation of work.
For an adiabatic process, in which no heat flows into or out of the gas
because its container is well insulated, Q = 0. If there is also no work
done, i.e. a free expansion, there is no change in internal energy. For an
ideal gas, this means that the process is also isothermal. [4] Thus,
specifying that a process is isothermal is not sufficient to specify a
unique process.

Entropy Change:
Isothermal processes are especially convenient for calculating changes
in entropy since, in this case, the formula for the entropy change, ΔS, is
simply
where Qrev is the heat transferred reversibly to the system
and T is absolute temperature.[7] This formula is valid only for a
hypothetical reversible process; that is, a process in which equilibrium is
maintained at all times.
A simple example is an equilibrium phase transition (such as melting or
evaporation) taking place at constant temperature and pressure. For a
phase transition at constant pressure, the heat transferred to the system
is equal to the enthalpy of transformation, ΔHtr, thus Q = ΔHtr.[3] At any
given pressure, there will be a transition temperature, Ttr, for which the
two phases are in equilibrium (for example, the normal boiling point for
vaporization of a liquid at one atmosphere pressure). If the transition
takes place under such equilibrium conditions, the formula above may be
used to directly calculate the entropy change[7]
Another example is the reversible isothermal expansion (or compression)
of an ideal gas from an initial volume VA and pressure PA to a final
volume VB and pressure PB. As shown in Calculation of work, the heat
transferred to the gas is
This result is for a reversible process, so it may be substituted in the
formula for the entropy change to obtain[7]
Since an ideal gas obeys Boyle's Law, this can be rewritten, if desired, as
Once obtained, these formulas can be applied to an irreversible process,
such as the free expansion of an ideal gas. Such an expansion is also
isothermal and may have the same initial and final states as in the
entropy of the system is the same as in the reversible process and is
given by the formulas above. Note that the result Q = 0 for the free
expansion can not be used in the formula for the entropy change since
the process is not reversible.
The difference between the reversible and free expansions is found in the
entropy of the surroundings. In both cases, the surroundings are at a
constant temperature, T, so that ΔSsur = −Q/T; the minus sign is used
since the heat transferred to the surroundings is equal in magnitude and
opposite in sign to the heat, Q, transferred to the system. In the reversible
case, the change in entropy of the surroundings is equal and opposite to
the change in the system, so the change in entropy of the universe is
zero. In the free expansion, Q = 0, so the entropy of the surroundings does
not change and the change in entropy of the universe is equal to ΔS for
the system.