Thermodynamics free essay sample

The first established principle of thermodynamics (which eventually became the Second Law) was formulated by Sadi Carnot in 1824. By 1860, as found in the works of those such as Rudolf Clausius and William Thomson, there were two established principles of thermodynamics, the first principle and the second principle. As the years passed, these principles turned into laws. By 1873, for example, thermodynamicist Josiah Willard Gibbs, in his â€Å"Graphical Methods in the Thermodynamics of Fluids†, clearly stated that there were two absolute laws of thermodynamics, a first law and a second law. When two systems are put in contact with each other, there will be a net exchange of energy between them unless or until they are in thermal equilibrium, that is, they contain the same amount of thermal energy for a given volume (say, 1 cubic centimeter, or 1 cubic inch. While this is a fundamental concept of thermodynamics, the need to state it explicitly as a law was not perceived until the first third of the 20th century, long after the first three laws were already widely in use, hence the zero numbering. We will write a custom essay sample on Thermodynamics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Zeroth Law asserts that thermal equilibrium, viewed as a binary relation, is an equivalence relation. [edit] First law Main article: First law of thermodynamics In any process, the total energy of the universe remains the same. It can also be defined as: for a thermodynamic cycle the sum of net heat supplied to the system and the net work done by the system is equal to zero. More simply, the First Law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; rather, the amount of energy lost in a steady state process cannot be greater than the amount of energy gained. A pithy summation would be You Cant Win. This is the statement of conservation of energy for a thermodynamic system. It refers to the two ways that a closed system transfers energy to and from its surroundings by the process of heating (or cooling) and the process of mechanical work. The rate of gain or loss in the stored energy of a system is determined by the rates of these two processes. In open systems, the flow of matter is another energy transfer mechanism, and extra terms must be included in the expression of the first law. The First Law clarifies the nature of energy. It is a stored quantity which is independent of any particular process path, i. e. , it is independent of the system history. If a system undergoes a thermodynamic cycle, whether it becomes warmer, cooler, larger, or smaller, then it will have the same amount of energy each time it returns to a particular state. Mathematically speaking, energy is a state function and infinitesimal changes in the energy are exact differentials. All laws of thermodynamics but the First are statistical and simply describe the tendencies of macroscopic systems. For microscopic systems with few particles, the variations in the parameters become larger than the parameters themselves, and the assumptions of thermodynamics become meaningless. The First Law, i. e. the law of conservation, has become the most secure of all basic laws of science. At present, it is unquestioned. [edit] Second law Main article: Second law of thermodynamics The entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium. In a simple manner, the second law states that energy systems have a tendency to increase their entropy rather than decrease it. A pithy summation of the Second Law would be You Cant Even Break Even. A way of looking at the second law for non-scientists is to look at entropy as a measure of chaos. So, for example, a broken cup has less order and more chaos than an intact one. Likewise, solid crystals, the most organized form of matter, have very low entropy values; and gases, which are highly disorganized, have high entropy values. The entropy of a thermally isolated macroscopic system never decreases (see Maxwells demon). However, a microscopic system may exhibit fluctuations of entropy opposite to that dictated by the Second Law (see Fluctuation Theorem). In fact, the mathematical proof of the Fluctuation Theorem from time-reversible dynamics and the Axiom of Causality constitutes a proof of the Second Law. In a logical sense the Second Law thus ceases to be a Law of physics and instead becomes a theorem which is valid for large systems or long times. The first and second law can be combined to yield the Fundamental Thermodynamic Relation: dE = TdS pdV\, Here, E is energy, T is temperature, S is entropy, p is pressure, and V is volume edit] Third law Main article: Third law of thermodynamics As temperature approaches absolute zero, the entropy of a system approaches a constant minimum. In brief, this postulates that entropy is temperature dependent and leads to the formulation of the idea of absolute zero. This has been summed up as You Cant Even Stay Out Of The Game. [edit] Tentative fourth laws or principles In the late 19th century, thermodynamicist Ludwig Boltzmann argued that the fundamental object of contention in the life-struggle in the evolution of the organic world is available energy. Since then, over the years, various thermodynamic researchers have come forward to ascribe to or to postulate potential fourth laws of thermodynamics; in some cases, even fifth or sixth laws of thermodynamics are proposed. The majority of these tentative fourth law statements are attempts to apply thermodynamics to evolution. Most fourth law statements, however, are speculative and far from agreed upon.

Legislative Process

Legislative Process Free Online Research Papers Q: What are the causes of public discontent over the legislature? A: The public discontent of congress has been on a steady decline for many years, and this present congress has a public approval rating of 12%. Surprisingly, individual congressmen generally enjoy higher approval ratings than congress as a whole. Keefe and Ogul discuss in The American Legislative Process some of the reasons for this discontent. Lets look at what they say. 1.The legislature is not sufficiently responsive to majority preferences either in the electorate or within the institution itself. What they are saying is that many times public policy is shaped by a select coalition of individuals regardless of what the majority of voters want, or what the majority of members of congress want. The status quo is what is preferred many times, therefore sharp changes in policy rarely occur. An example are issues like stem cell research, gay marriage, and abortion. Most public opinion polls show that the majority of citizens are in favor of these hot button issues, but congress resist changing public policy in response to majority opinions. The current health care debate is an example of how majority preferences in congress are ignored because of a small coalition of congressmen that have the power to block legislation. 2. Legislative politics and public policy formation are dominated by organized special interest groups. Interest groups or lobbyist are people who represent a particular organization whose sole job is to influence legislators in Washington. They not only have the power to changet public policy, but they also have the power to decide who wins elections. Political endorsements are key to getting elected, and certain interest groups have the power to sway elections. For example, a candidate in a conservative district can gain more votes by getting the endorsement from the NRA(a special interest group which supports individual gun rights and usually backs conservative candidates). Along with the NRA, some other major interest groups are labor unions, teacher unions, farmers unions, along with many more. 3. The legislature is seldom a force for innovation. This criticism rests on the belief that few if any significant changes are likely to result from a new session of the legislature. The caution and conservatism of the legislature, its unwillingness to experiment, and its inability to cast free from conventional ties have served to stunt the interest of the public. The evolution of congress is generally much slower than the evolution of ideas amongst the public. 4. Institutional arrangements in the legislature obscure the publics view of the decision-making process and, moreover, make it difficult to fix responsibility for actions taken by government. What they are saying here is that the legislative functions in a way that makes it hard to follow the course of a bill through the legislative process. It goes through many committees and changes many times, that it is hard to give credit or place blame on one particular legislator or political party as a whole. 5. The legislature is populated by insecure and timorous individuals whose principal aim is to stay in office. Most legislators are career politicians, meaning their main goal is to get elected in a political office and to either stay in office, or move up the political ladder. This causes some politicians to lose touch with their voters and become more responsive to institutional leaders. Q: How does a bill become a law? A: The first step is the origination of bill by resolution, joint resolution, or concurrent resolution by an executive agency, political interest group, individual member, or a bill drafting agency. The bill is then introduced by a member of the House of Representatives. The constitution specifies that revenue bills originate in the House and custom dictates that appropriation bills originate in the House as well. The bill is then referred to a standing committee by House leadership. While in the committee the bill can possibly be referred to a subcommittee or be debated in a closed or open hearing. The committee can disregard, defeat, accept and report, amend and report, or rewrite the bill. The bill then goes to the House floor for debate. There are several readings of the bill, and then it is either passed or defeated. After this process, the bill goes to senate and goes through the same process as in the House. After floor debate in the Senate, a bill can go to a conference comm ittee which may be requested if House and Senate versions of the bill differ. These committees are composed of managers from each house who vote separately and each house must concur in the conference report. If passed, the bill is signed by the Speaker and Vice-President. Then the bill goes to the Presidents desk where he or she has the power to approve, veto, pocket veto, or permit the bill to become law without signature. Q: What are the functions of the legislature? A: There are many functions the legislature must cary out, but the most important is making laws. As mentioned earlier, the law making process is very complicated and goes through a strict process that takes up much of legislators time. Another function of the legislature is to check the administration. Their supervisory role consists of questioning, reviewing and assessing, modifying, and rejecting policies of the administration. For example, Congress has the power to override a Presidents veto power by 2/3 majority vote. Congress also has the power to appoint or reject the Presidents appointments for administrative or judicial positions. The American political system calls for a process of checks and balance, and congress adheres to this by checking the executive branch. Also a function of the legislature is to educate the public. Legislators have the responsibility to inform the public on policy decisions. The law making process is so complicated that it must be explained in a way that average citizens can understand. This is however a two way street, and the public must also be engaged in political matters. Representing constituents, localities, and interest is another major function of the legislature. It should be the duty of legislators to work for and in the interest of their constituents. They are supposed to represent the ideals and values that the people who voted for them share. However, many legislators are not responsive to their districts needs or request because they are able to get elected anyway. Two minor functions of the legislature is the judicial function and leadership selection. This judicial function occurs when congress judges the election and qualification of its members, punishing and expelling members for contempt or disorderly behavior, and impeaching and removing from office members of the executive and judicial branches. The process of counting electoral college votes falls under the leadership selection function. The constitutio n also devolves to Congress the power to determine the order of presidential succession to be followed in the event that the offices of presidency and vice-presidency are vacant. Q: What is a legislative norm? Discuss the key norms that guide legislators in their duties. A: All human institutions seek to maintain and guarantee their survival by establishing norms of conduct that apply to their members. These norms preserve the status quo and hinders any kind of major reform in how congress operates. Here are some of the key norms of congress. 1. Until recently, apprenticeship was an especially powerful norm in Congress. New members were expected to serve under existing ones to learn the ropes and rules of the game before engaging in any legislative matters. 2. Another norm is members should give substantial attention to legislative work, even though much of it is tedious and politically unimportant. 3. Specialization is another key norm that is less potent than in the past. Members of Congress are expected to restrict their interest, and focus on limited fields of legislation, ordinarily those that fall within their committee assignments or those that have major significance for their states or districts. 4. The norm of reciprocity is an outgrowth of the need of both individual legislators and legislative blocs to aggregate support for their positions. Reciprocity activates the legislature, prompts members to examine problems from the vantage point of their colleagues, underlines bargains of all kinds, helps members to extricate bills from legislative bogs, promotes state delegation unity, and explains voting behavior on numerous proposals. 5. The idea of institutional patriotism is the final congressional norm. Members are expected to display loyalty to the institution and publicly criticizing the institution is frowned upon Research Papers on Legislative ProcessTwilight of the UAWPETSTEL analysis of IndiaQuebec and CanadaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenBringing Democracy to Africa

Structural analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Structural analysis - Essay Example Not just that, electron microscopy was further augmented with suitable detectors to even extract quantitative micro-chemistry and micro-crystallographic information not only from the surfaces (in case of SEM) but also from within the bulk of the material in case of TEM. Enhancement in resolution could be possible because of much smaller value of the wavelength of the accelerated electrons (which are the probe in electron microscopy) as compared to that of the visible light (which is the probe in case of optical microscopy). Why electron microscopy could be expanded to provide much more information is because interaction of electrons with matter leads to generation of a variety of signals like different kinds of electrons and X-rays and these signals contain valuable information about not only the topography of the surface but also about chemistry of the material and orientation of the grains. Therefore, it becomes relevant to present a brief introduction to electron – matter i nteraction for better understanding of electron microscopy in general and SEM in particular. When an electron beam strikes with matters it interacts with the electrons – outer shell as well as core electrons and nucleus of the matter. Depending on the energy and intensity of the incident electron beam and thickness of the material being exposed to the electron beam different kind of signals are generated. A schematic diagram showing a typical electron – matter interaction is presented in Figure 1. Electron beam can penetrate through the specimen only if its thickness is less than 100 nm and only then the transmitted signals are produced. Transmitted signals are used in Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and related analytical equipment like STEM (Scanning TEM), ATEM (Analytical TEM), HRTEM (High Resolution TEM) etc with attachments like EELS, HAADF etc. These signals are not