Thermodynamic work in the context of "Inexact differential"

Play Trivia Questions online!

 or

Skip to study material about Thermodynamic work in the context of "Inexact differential"
Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Thermodynamic work

Thermodynamic work is one of the principal kinds of process by which a thermodynamic system can interact with and transfer energy to its surroundings. This results in externally measurable macroscopic forces on the system's surroundings, which can cause mechanical work, to lift a weight, for example, or cause changes in electromagnetic, or gravitational variables. Also, the surroundings can perform thermodynamic work on a thermodynamic system, which is measured by an opposite sign convention.

For thermodynamic work, appropriately chosen externally measured quantities are exactly matched by values of or contributions to changes in macroscopic internal state variables of the system, which always occur in conjugate pairs, for example pressure and volume or magnetic flux density and magnetization.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Thermodynamic work in the context of Inexact differential

An inexact differential or imperfect differential is a differential whose integral is path dependent. It is most often used in thermodynamics to express changes in path dependent quantities such as heat and work, but is defined more generally within mathematics as a type of differential form. In contrast, an integral of an exact differential is always path independent since the integral acts to invert the differential operator. Consequently, a quantity with an inexact differential cannot be expressed as a function of only the variables within the differential. I.e., its value cannot be inferred just by looking at the initial and final states of a given system. Inexact differentials are primarily used in calculations involving heat and work because they are path functions, not state functions.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Thermodynamic work in the context of Fermi level

The Fermi level of a solid-state body is the thermodynamic work required to add one electron to the body. It is a thermodynamic quantity usually denoted by μ or EFfor brevity. The Fermi level does not include the work required to remove the electron from wherever it came from.A precise understanding of the Fermi level—how it relates to electronic band structure in determining electronic properties; how it relates to the voltage and flow of charge in an electronic circuit—is essential to an understanding of solid-state physics.

In band structure theory, used in solid state physics to analyze the energy levels in a solid, the Fermi level can be considered to be a hypothetical energy level of an electron, such that at thermodynamic equilibrium this energy level would have a 50% probability of being occupied at any given time.The position of the Fermi level in relation to the band energy levels is a crucial factor in determining electrical properties.The Fermi level does not necessarily correspond to an actual energy level (in an insulator the Fermi level lies in the band gap), nor does it require the existence of a band structure.Nonetheless, the Fermi level is a precisely defined thermodynamic quantity, and differences in Fermi level can be measured simply with a voltmeter.

↑ Return to Menu
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Fermi level ← Inexact differential
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Thermodynamic system → Energy → Macroscopic scale → Work (physics) → State function →