KnowraSecond law of thermodynamicsLinked fromLinked fromThe 48 pages that link to Second law of thermodynamics, each with the reason it gives.All 48Broader topic 2Related 32Narrower topic 9Compared with 5Reversible processNarrower topic: The law constrains possible processes; reversibility is the limiting case with no total entropy increase.Chemical thermodynamicsNarrower topic: It supplies the entropy criterion from which chemical spontaneity and equilibrium conditions follow.Carnot's theoremNarrower topic: Its restrictions on entropy changes rule out engines that exceed the reversible limit.Irreversible processNarrower topic: It constrains every irreversible process to increase total entropy.Refrigeration cycleNarrower topic: It explains why the cycle needs external work to move heat against its natural direction.Landauer's principleNarrower topic: Landauer's principle gives a quantitative information-processing consequence of the second law.Clausius theoremNarrower topic: The theorem gives a quantitative expression of this law for cycles.Carnot heat engineNarrower topic: It rules out engines that convert all absorbed heat into work in a cycle.Heat pump and refrigeration cycleNarrower topic: It explains why the cycle must consume work to pump heat uphill in temperature.