Lord Kelvin formally states the second law of thermodynamics

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Resources

The theoretical physicist William Thomson, who was later to become known as Baron Kelvin after his elevation to the House of Lords, had first suggested a version of this thermodynamic law in 1851. In 1874, however, he stated it formally for the first time. This law, which stated that 'there is no natural process the only result of which is to cool a heat reservoir and do external work', effectively outlined the process of entropy. This meant that over time, differences in heat and energy will gradually decrease, and the amount of useable energy in the universe is therefore also gradually decreasing. This became a source of great anxiety in the late Victorian period, in particular the associated idea of the eventual death of the sun.

124 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Lord Kelvin formally states the second law of thermodynamics". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=6344, accessed 19 March 2024.]

6344 Lord Kelvin formally states the second law of thermodynamics 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.