Practice question · Match the pairs
Match each term to its precise meaning.
- System
- Isolated system
- Reversible process
- State function
- Depends only on the current state, not the route
- Passes through a continuous sequence of equilibrium states
- Exchanges neither matter nor energy
- The part of the universe under study
Hints
- Two of these describe boundaries and two describe processes or properties.
- The reversible process is the idealised slow limit.
Show the answer
- System → The part of the universe under study
- Isolated system → Exchanges neither matter nor energy
- Reversible process → Passes through a continuous sequence of equilibrium states
- State function → Depends only on the current state, not the route
Why
The system is what you draw a boundary around; an isolated one lets nothing cross; a reversible process is the infinitely slow equilibrium limit; and a state function forgets the path entirely.
Practise The First Law of Thermodynamics
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