LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does law of thermodynamics mean? 

• LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS (noun)
  The noun LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS has 1 sense:

1. (physics) a law governing the relations between states of energy in a closed system

  Familiarity information: LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS (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)