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Re: [Phys-l] Third Law of Thermodynamics



On 01/27/2011 10:39 AM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:
Engineers still have to calculate exergy and the availability of
energy when steam is supplied to a power plant or geothermal energy
is used to produce electricity. The statistical definition of entropy
may be more modern and may be more definitive, but it is not easy to
use in many engineering applications.

All that is irrelevant to the question that was asked.

Consider the contrast:

A) Those engineers do not need to ask foundational questions
about the third law in order to operate their steam engines.
They need to know what entropy _does_ but they do not need
to know what entropy _is_.

B) If/when somebody asks questions about the third law, the
zero of entropy, and/or the definition of entropy, we are
not talking about geothermal steam engines any more, and we
should not pretend that we are.