One Setup, Three Systems

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 7 Issue 4 (2002) pp 205-206

One Setup, Three Systems

Yuanjian Deng

Department of Chemistry, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX 77004
Received March 27, 2002. Accepted May 22, 2002

Published online: 5 July 2002

Abstract. The system–surroundings concept is one of the most important in thermodynamics. Precisely defining a system is of critical importance to thermodynamic analysis. Even when studying the same problem, different individuals may opt to select different systems; therefore, choosing the correct system requires skill.In order to help students understand the various systems and their differences, a simple distillation setup is used to demonstrate the three thermodynamic systems: open, closed, and isolated.

Key Words: In the Classroom; physical chemistry; thermodynamics

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: deng_yj@tsu.edu)

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