- #1
kmarinas86
- 979
- 1
Given that heat capacity is a ratio of change of energy over change of temperature, while entropy is a change of energy over absolute temperature...
I was wondering if there is any basis for the idea that energy will tend to flow from media having low heat capacity to media having high heat capacity, such that the imported energy becomes colder as a result of the higher heat capacity of the destination medium relative the medium departed.
See a table of specific heat capacities for different materials:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capacity#Table_of_specific_heat_capacities
In other words, energy of an object could be thought of as getting hotter or colder due to heat capacity variations. As a result of such a energy transfer (=ΔE), the entropy would increase as result of ΔE/t increasing (i.e. 0 < ΔE/t_(cold, final) - ΔE/t_(hot, initial)), where ΔE specifically would refer to the energy that is transferred. In this sense, entropy is not so much a flow, but rather an intensity like heat capacity. And what if, in the end, if we account for entropy changes by such transfers of energy, couldn't that concept of pinning thermodynamic state variables to energy as opposed to pinning them to boundary-defined systems, as is almost always assumed in traditional teaching, make entropy and heat capacity one-and-the-same-thing?
It is also known that there are different heat capacities for a given substance based on:
* constant volume, as in an isochoric process
* constant pressure, as in an isobaric process
So depending on the present process occurring in a given thermodynamic cycle, the direction of energy flow that would increase entropy could change - or even reverse.
Conversely, one could flip the perception around and imagine that entropy itself flows from systems of low heat capacity to those of high heat capacity, causing the heat capacity of the systems which they flow into to increase, while causing the heat capacity of systems they are leaving to decrease.
Certain materials have different effects on the flow of heat, so couldn't understanding of that be aided by the idea that entropy and heat capacity are intimately connected? Could the ability to engineer extreme differences in heat capacity facilitate extraction of ambient thermal energy? If there can be a heat capacity for constant pressure and a heat capacity for constant volume, wouldn't the concept of pinning thermodynamic state variables to energy as opposed to pinning them to boundary-defined systems, as is almost always assumed in traditional teaching, suggest the existence of a temperature for constant pressure [dynamics] and a temperature for constant volume [statics], so maybe it is related to the relation between dynamic pressure vs. static pressure: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=169660?
I was wondering if there is any basis for the idea that energy will tend to flow from media having low heat capacity to media having high heat capacity, such that the imported energy becomes colder as a result of the higher heat capacity of the destination medium relative the medium departed.
See a table of specific heat capacities for different materials:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capacity#Table_of_specific_heat_capacities
In other words, energy of an object could be thought of as getting hotter or colder due to heat capacity variations. As a result of such a energy transfer (=ΔE), the entropy would increase as result of ΔE/t increasing (i.e. 0 < ΔE/t_(cold, final) - ΔE/t_(hot, initial)), where ΔE specifically would refer to the energy that is transferred. In this sense, entropy is not so much a flow, but rather an intensity like heat capacity. And what if, in the end, if we account for entropy changes by such transfers of energy, couldn't that concept of pinning thermodynamic state variables to energy as opposed to pinning them to boundary-defined systems, as is almost always assumed in traditional teaching, make entropy and heat capacity one-and-the-same-thing?
It is also known that there are different heat capacities for a given substance based on:
* constant volume, as in an isochoric process
* constant pressure, as in an isobaric process
So depending on the present process occurring in a given thermodynamic cycle, the direction of energy flow that would increase entropy could change - or even reverse.
Conversely, one could flip the perception around and imagine that entropy itself flows from systems of low heat capacity to those of high heat capacity, causing the heat capacity of the systems which they flow into to increase, while causing the heat capacity of systems they are leaving to decrease.
Certain materials have different effects on the flow of heat, so couldn't understanding of that be aided by the idea that entropy and heat capacity are intimately connected? Could the ability to engineer extreme differences in heat capacity facilitate extraction of ambient thermal energy? If there can be a heat capacity for constant pressure and a heat capacity for constant volume, wouldn't the concept of pinning thermodynamic state variables to energy as opposed to pinning them to boundary-defined systems, as is almost always assumed in traditional teaching, suggest the existence of a temperature for constant pressure [dynamics] and a temperature for constant volume [statics], so maybe it is related to the relation between dynamic pressure vs. static pressure: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=169660?
Last edited: