DEFINITIONS*** (Ref:"Heat and thermodynamics" - Mark W.Zemanski)
HEAT CAPACITY - When heat is absorbed by a system, a change of temperature may or may not take place, depending on the process. If a system undergoes a change of temperature from xi to xf during the transfer of Q units of heat, the average HEAT CAPACITY of the system is defined as the ratio
Average heat capacity = Q/xf - xi
SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY (SPECIFIC HEAT) - The heat capacity of a system per unit mass.
The heat capacity may be negative, zero, positive, or infinite, depending on the process the system undergoes during the heat transfer. It has a definite value only for a definite process. In the case of a hydrostatic system, the ratio of heat transferred to change in temperature has a unique value when the PRESSURE is kept constant. Similarly, it has another unique value when VOLUME is kept constant.
THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM - Achieved when each of the following conditions are met:
1) Mechanical Equilibrium - achieved when there is no unbalanced force in the interior of a system and also none between a system and its surroundings.
2) Chemical Equilibrium - occurs when a system in mechanical equilibrium does not tend to undergo a spontaneous change of internal structure, such as a chemical reaction, or a transfer of matter from one part of the system to another, such as diffusion.
3) Thermal Equilibrium - all parts of a system are at the same temperature, and this temperature is the same as that of its surroundings.
NOTE: Classical Thermodynamics not deal with RATE at which a process takes place, which is the realm of other branches of science, such as the kinetic theory of gases, hydrodynamics, and chemical kinetics.
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