Thermodynamics and Energy

Does the Clausius Statement of the Second Law, or Its Violation, Have Any Meaning During a Time-Reversed Heat Energy Transfer Process?

Authors: Richard Kaufman
Comments: 11 Pages.

We might assume that if time ran backwards, heat energy would be transferred spontaneously from colder to hotter. However, if heat energy actually did flow spontaneously from colder to hotter, then equilibrium states and temperatures required for thermodynamics would not be established. As a simple example, consider if heat energy flow were to flow from colder-to-hotter, such as in a metal rod heated at one end. Any distribution of temperatures in the metal rod causes further colder-to-hotter flow between adjacent layers of the metal. This results in hot regions of undetermined thickness — and an equilibrium temperature is not established for the rod. So, if time were reversed, we argue that during a heat energy transfer process, the Clausius statement of the second law is not merely violated but is meaningless. Yet, based on the initial and final states of a time-reversed process, the Clausius statement does appear to hold overall. We consider the implication that the Clausius statement is not continuously reversible in time - and wonder if the other equivalent forms of the second law have meaning for time reversal.
Category: Thermodynamics and Energy