A professor at the University of Seville has resolved a 120-year-old puzzle in thermodynamics, correcting a long-standing interpretation originally proposed by Albert Einstein. <\/p>\n
The findings offer a new theoretical link between Nernst\u2019s theorem\u2014first introduced in 1905\u2014and the second law of thermodynamics. Results indicate that the third law of thermodynamics is not an independent principle but a direct consequence of the second law.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Mart\u00edn-Olalla\u2019s findings clarify how entropy behaves as temperature approaches absolute zero, deepening our understanding of one of physics\u2019s fundamental principles and revising a key aspect of Einstein\u2019s early thermodynamic thinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this proof, the second law of thermodynamics would extend its applicability, and the third postulate of thermodynamics would be narrowed to the fact that the entropy of a finite density, chemically homogeneous body must not be negative,\u201d according to the research paper. <\/p>\n
Thermodynamics laws unified<\/p>\n
The issue dates back to the early 20th century, when scientists were investigating the behavior of matter at temperatures approaching absolute zero (\u2013273\u00b0C). <\/p>\n
Walther Nernst, a physicist from Germany, noted that entropy exchanges appear to disappear when the temperature approaches absolute zero. This discovery led to him being awarded the Nobel Prize<\/a> in Chemistry in 1920. To clarify this, Nernst contended that absolute zero cannot be reached physically. Without this law, building an ideal engine that transforms all heat into work would be possible, thus breaching the second law of thermodynamics.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In 1912, though, Einstein<\/a> took issue with this perspective. He argued that a practical engine of this kind could not exist, which meant that the second law did not have to be the cause of absolute zero\u2019s inaccessibility. Einstein\u2019s argument dissociated Nernst\u2019s theorem from the second law, establishing it as an independent \u201cthird law\u201d of thermodynamics.<\/p>\n