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Re: dS=0



Hmmm. The way I use the symbols Q and W, the question is phrased in a way
that is highly likely to produce confusion, and the suggested answer just
increases the probability of confusion.

John, this just the issue -- ie the way one uses the terms -- the common
usage DOES produce confusion -- as we have demonstrated many times on this
list and as Bill Nye does every time he opens his mouth. My point is that
the usual usage is what is obfuscating.

To be specific, let's consider the case of a brick connected to a piston in
a cylinder full of ideal gas.

We can even imagine that the brick is oscillating up and down in response
to its weight, its inertia, and the gas-pressure on the piston. The
oscillation repeatedly transfers energy between the gas and the brick.

Your language here is a case in point:

If one thinks of "energy' as being "transferred", the ensuing analysis gets
all bollixed up. Now do the analysis with the concept of energy being
increased and decreased by the action of work and one makes sense.



Jim Green
mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen