Physics II / The First Law and Heat Capacities
Practice question · Select all that apply

Which statements about the first law are correct?

Hints
  1. Three are the content of the law; one misstates what is conserved.
  2. It is the SUM of heat and work that is path-independent, not either alone.
Show the answer
  • A. The law forbids a machine that produces work from nothing
  • C. Internal energy is a state function
  • D. Heat and work are individually path-dependent
Why

The law’s content is that the combination Q+WQ + W is path-independent even though neither term is. Nothing conserves heat or work separately, a fact the caloric theory got wrong.

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