Second law of thermodynamics
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The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on universal empirical observation concerning heat and energy interconversions. A simple statement of the law is that heat always flows spontan
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in the traditional uniform of a student of the École Polytechnique
Rudolf Clausius
James Clerk Maxwell
Ludwig Boltzmann
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Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann was an Austrian mathematician and theoretical physicist. His greatest achievements were the development of statistical mechanics and the statistical explanation of the second l
Second law of thermodynamics
…and produce a net amount of work." This statement was shown to be equivalent to the statement of Clausius. The ergodic hypothesis is also important for Ludwig Boltzmann's approach. It says that, over long periods of time, the time spent in some region of the phase space of microstates with the same energy is proportional…
Boltzmann in 1902
Ludwig Boltzmann and co-workers in Graz, 1887: (standing, from the left) Nernst, Streintz, Arrhenius, Hiecke, (sitting, from the left) Aulinger, Ettingshausen, Boltzmann, Klemenčič, Hausmanninger
Boltzmann's 1898 I2 molecule diagram showing atomic "sensitive region" (α, β) overlap
Boltzmann's bust in the courtyard arcade of the main building, University of Vienna