| Library / English Dictionary |
LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(physics) a law governing the relations between states of energy in a closed system
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("law of thermodynamics" is a kind of...):
law; law of nature (a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature)
Domain category:
natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "law of thermodynamics"):
second law of thermodynamics (a law stating that mechanical work can be derived from a body only when that body interacts with another at a lower temperature; any spontaneous process results in an increase of entropy)
third law of thermodynamics (law stating that the entropy of a substance approaches zero as its temperature approaches absolute zero)
zeroth law of thermodynamics (the law that if two bodies are in thermal equilibrium with a third body then the first two bodies are in thermal equilibrium with each other)
conservation of energy; first law of thermodynamics; law of conservation of energy (the fundamental principle of physics that the total energy of an isolated system is constant despite internal changes)
