Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each quantity by whether it is a state function or a path-dependent quantity.
Groups: State function · Path-dependent
- Pressure
- Heat transferred
- Internal energy
- Entropy
- Work done
Hints
- Ask whether the quantity has a value for the current state alone.
- You cannot say how much heat a system "has", only how much crossed a boundary during a process.
Show the answer
State function: Internal energy, Entropy, Pressure
Path-dependent: Heat transferred, Work done
Why
State functions are determined entirely by where the system is now. Heat and work have no value until a process is specified, which is exactly why the first law separates them from the internal energy they change.
Practise Systems, Walls and State Variables
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