Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 2 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let the closed atmospheric parcel exchange heat and volume work with reservoirs at fixed temperature and pressure , while reactions rearrange its conserved elemental inventory. For a reversible differential between equilibrium states, the first law of thermodynamics, with chemical work included, isThe Gibbs free energy therefore obeysThe first law of thermodynamics supplies this differential but does not alone choose the direction of a reaction. The Second law of thermodynamics does: for the parcel plus its reservoirs, at fixed and with no non-volume work,Thus spontaneous reactions decrease Gibbs free energy, and stable thermochemical equilibrium is its constrained minimum. For an allowed reaction of extent , let , with positive stoichiometric vector entries for products and negative entries for reactants. At an interior minimum,The condition must hold for every independent allowed reaction, with fixed total atoms of each element and any relevant charge constraint. At a boundary with absent species, only feasible one-sided variations are permitted. These are the hypotheses of constrained Gibbs minimization for chemical equilibrium.
For an ideal gas mixture, , where is the volume mixing ratio and the molar gas constant. ThereforeThis is a dimensionless activity-based equilibrium constant, not a bare product of dimensional pressures.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 34D b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 310 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be the physical volume of a region with fixed comoving coordinates, so , and write . The first law of thermodynamics is . Use extensive quantities: under replication, . The Euler theorem for homogeneous functions givesSetting yieldsThis is the entropy form of the Gibbs-Duhem equation; it fixes the normalization by extensivity, rather than adding an arbitrary volume-independent entropy constant.
For equilibrium expansion of the same region, the first law and the cosmological perfect-fluid continuity equation implyTherefore , establishing cosmological entropy conservation for adiabatic equilibrium evolution. Here “comoving volume” means a patch moving with the cosmological fluid; its physical volume changes. The corresponding coordinate volume is constant. The local TeX's in the continuity-equation hint is a transcription error: the PDF correctly has .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 1 35A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
In the microcanonical ensemble, the microcanonical energy-shell entropy is the Boltzmann entropyFor a macroscopic system, changing the small energy resolution by a fixed factor changes only by a nonextensive additive term, while . Its relative effect therefore vanishes in the thermodynamic limit.
The thermodynamic temperature, pressure, and chemical potential are defined in the entropy representation byThusor, equivalently, the first law of thermodynamics in fundamental form is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 1 35A b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Because increasing the length by requires work on the chain, its first law of thermodynamics isAll configurations have the same energy, so at fixed and ,Differentiating the entropy found above givesand hence the entropic Hooke law for a one-dimensional chain isWhen , the Taylor expansion of giveswhich is Hooke's law. Conversely, at fixed force,The extension decreases as the temperature rises and tends to zero as : the rubber contracts on heating at fixed tension.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 311 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Classically, the laws of black-hole mechanics have the same form as the laws of thermodynamics, but this could have been only a formal analogy. Hawking radiation makes it physical: a stationary black hole emits approximately thermal radiation withso surface gravity is proportional to genuine temperature.
The correspondence is:
- constancy of on a stationary horizon becomes constancy of equilibrium temperature;
- the First law of black-hole mechanics
- Hawking's area theorem becomes a second law, replaced in the quantum theory by the generalized second law for ;
- the impossibility of reaching by a finite process parallels the unattainability of absolute zero.
A real Hawking temperature therefore identifies horizon area as thermodynamic entropy and turns the geometric laws into thermodynamic laws.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 314 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be the material derivative, and write for specific enthalpy. The ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation and Gauss's law for magnetism giveDotting the momentum equation with eliminates the Lorentz force density. Therefore the cross-helicity density satisfiesThe first law of thermodynamics gives for specific entropy , without requiring uniform entropy. ConsequentlySince , the first term on the right is a divergence. This proves the cross-helicity conservation law, with fluxFor the perfect gas used here, .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 314 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For a perfect gas with constant specific heat capacity , the first law of thermodynamics givesUsing the pressure-density Hugoniot relation for a perfect gas, the entropy production in a perfect-gas shock is thereforeThis is positive for , as required by the Second law of thermodynamics for the physical compressive normal shock wave.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 2 36A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
For a simple system of fixed composition, the first law of thermodynamics andgiveThusEquality of mixed derivatives gives the Gibbs free-energy Maxwell relation
The heat capacity at constant volume and heat capacity at constant pressure areRegarding as a function of and differentiating along a constant-pressure curve givesThe Maxwell relation from the Helmholtz free energy isTherefore the difference between constant-pressure and constant-volume heat capacities is
Along the liquid-gas phase coexistence curve, the molar Gibbs free energies agree. Differentiating along the curve givesHence the Clausius-Clapeyron relation iswhere is the molar latent heat.
If and the gas is ideal, then , soFor constant , integration yieldswhere is constant over the range in which the approximations apply.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 3 35A iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The first law of thermodynamics isso, regarding as a function of ,Equality of mixed partial derivatives gives the thermodynamic derivation of blackbody radiation pressureWriting , we have , and henceEquivalently, , soThe condition as forces . Therefore the radiation pressure is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 36C b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
At constant volume, the First law of thermodynamics givesAt constant pressure,Differentiating at fixed givesConsequently,and the Mayer relation isThe specific-heat ratio is therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 344 3 e Solution 2026-09-28
The first law of thermodynamics, with defined as heat lost by the particle to the bath, isThus , and part d becomes the local detailed balance identityThe logarithmic path-probability ratio is the bath's entropy production in units of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 309 4 a Solution 2026-09-28
Contract for the perfect fluid in general relativity with . Using and gives the relativistic perfect-fluid energy equationthe local first law of thermodynamics. Project instead with to obtain the relativistic Euler equation
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 317 4 ii Solution 2026-09-28
Write . At fixed density,The specific internal energy isApplying the first law of thermodynamics adiabatically givesCombining these logarithmic derivatives yieldsAs gas pressure dominates,the result for a monatomic perfect gas. In the radiation-pressure limit it tends to .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 4 35A c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
An adiabatic process has no heat transfer, . With work done by the gas taken as positive, the first law of thermodynamics givesUsing and ,Integration, followed by the Mayer relation , yieldsEliminating with the equation of state gives the reversible ideal-gas adiabat
Specific enthalpy Created 2026-09-25 Updated 2026-10-06
Specific enthalpy is enthalpy per unit mass. For a simple compressible fluid of fixed composition, the first law of thermodynamics giveswhere is temperature, is specific entropy, is pressure, and is mass density. Along an isentropic flow, . For a perfect gas with constant specific-heat ratio , .