A General Solution to the Different Formulations of the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Abstract

The second law of thermodynamics is one of the most important physical laws that has been extracted by different formulations. In this paper, a new approach to study different formulations of the second law is extracted based on the energy components of the system as well as introducing the independent and dependent energy components concepts. Also, two main formulations of classical thermodynamics, and also entropy from the perspective of general physics are discussed based on the energy components of the system for constant applied energy to the system in different conditions. Kelvin-Plank and Clausius formulations, as two main classical formulations, are all assertions about impossible processes. Considering the energy structure equation of the system, as an equation to formulate the performed process using activated energy components, it is shown that different formulations of the second law of thermodynamics represent the same concept in the perspective of the energy structure. Finally, a new general formulation to the second law, based on the energy structure of the system is extracted, and the equivalence as the other formulations is shown. The presented formulation is extracted based on the dependent and independent activated energy components, and in fact, shows all possible paths in the considered energy applying to the system.