ntropy does not Follow from the First Law: Critique of "Entropy and the First Law of Thermodynamics"

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 8 Issue 3 (2003) pp 171-176

Entropy does not Follow from the First Law: Critique of "Entropy and the First Law of Thermodynamics"

John C. Wheeler

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry 0340, University of California, San Diego La Jolla CA 92093-0340 jwheeler@ucsd.edu
Received November 25, 2002 Accepted April 18, 2003

Published online: 26 May 2003

Abstract. In a recent paper in this Journal, "Entropy and the First Law of Thermodynamics," (Nikitas, P., Chem. Educator 2002, 7, 61-65) the author claims to derive the existence of the usual entropy from the first law of thermodynamics. The paper contains two errors that invalidate the author's conclusions. We identify the errors and demonstrate by explicit counterexamples that the claim is not realizable.

Key Words: In the Classroom; physical chemistry; thermodynamics; first law; second law; entropy

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: jwheeler@ucsd.edu)

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