Practice question · Match the pairs
Match each statement of the third law or its consequences to what it says.
- Nernst statement
- Planck statement
- Unattainability
- Vanishing heat capacities
- No finite sequence of steps reaches absolute zero
- Required for the entropy integral to converge
- The entropy of a perfect crystal itself tends to zero
- Isothermal entropy changes vanish as T approaches zero
Hints
- Two are statements of the law and two are consequences of it.
- Planck’s version is the stronger of the two statements.
Show the answer
- Nernst statement → Isothermal entropy changes vanish as T approaches zero
- Planck statement → The entropy of a perfect crystal itself tends to zero
- Unattainability → No finite sequence of steps reaches absolute zero
- Vanishing heat capacities → Required for the entropy integral to converge
Why
Nernst constrains entropy changes; Planck fixes the absolute value itself. Unattainability and vanishing heat capacities both follow, the latter because must converge at the lower limit.
Practise The Third Law and Low Temperatures
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