Why work done in reversible process is greater than irreversible?

The reason why more work is done by the system in a reversible process than an irreversible process is entropy is generated within the gas in an irreversible process. Whenever entropy is generated within the system there is a lost opportunity for the system to perform useful work.

In which expansion work done is maximum?

Work done in the isothermal reversible expansion of an ideal gas is maximum work.

Why work done in reversible isothermal process is maximum?

In any expansion, the external pressure must be less than the pressure of the gas. If the external pressure is zero, the work done is also zero as the gas expands into the vacuum. Therefore work done in an isothermal reversible expansion of an ideal gas is maximum work.

Why is irreversible work less than reversible work?

The key feature why the irreversible work is smaller than the reversible work is the magnitude of the external pressure against which the irreversible work is done against. If you were to increase the external pressure by a factor of two then the irreversible work would be greater.

Why is reversible process impossible?

Having been reversed, it leaves no change in either the system or the surroundings. Since it would take an infinite amount of time for the reversible process to finish, perfectly reversible processes are impossible.

Can the maximum work exceed the internal energy change?

Yes. In both the case, i.e that may be reversible or irreversible the change in volume is same, W= Pdv, if dv is same P should be different so that work done be different.

Why work done is maximum in adiabatic process?

The work done in adiabatic process is maximum. This is because the rate of pressure increase is faster in the adiabatic process as all the energy of the work done on the system increases its internal energy.

Why work done is maximum in isobaric?

The maximum work is done when the external pressure Pext of the surroundings on the system is equal to P, the pressure of the system. If V is the volume of the system, the work performed as the system moves from state 1 to 2 during an isobaric thermodynamic process, W12, is the maximum work as given by Eq.

Why work done in isothermal process is greater than adiabatic process?

Both start from the same point A, but the isothermal process does more work than the adiabatic because heat transfer into the gas takes place to keep its temperature constant. This keeps the pressure higher all along the isothermal path than along the adiabatic path, producing more work.

What is reversible expansion?

Hence, a reversible isothermal expansion is an infinitely-slow increase in volume at constant temperature. All the reversible isothermal PV work wrev done by an ideal gas to expand was possible by reversibly absorbing heat qrev into the ideal gas.