quantumquirkxyz Contract
- Input: problem description and inputs defined by the skill body.
- Output: Markdown artifact with completed process steps.
- Side effects: none.
- Dependencies: none.
- Stop condition: all process steps executed; artifact saved with required sections.
- Risk: low.
- Boundary: produces reasoning artifact only; no system changes.
Thermodynamics Modeling
Apply thermodynamics — first/second law, entropy, phase transitions — to a physical system with explicit energy accounting and efficiency limits.
When to use
- The user wants to analyse an engine, refrigeration cycle, chemical process, or material phase change.
- A system needs energy conservation, entropy production, or efficiency bounds.
- Engineering / chemistry / physics requires a thermodynamic model.
Process
1. Define the system
Name: open / closed / isolated. Identify the control volume (if any) and time window. List known and unknown state variables (T, P, V, U, H, S). State the working substance (ideal gas, real fluid, solid).
Completion criterion: system type, control volume, substance, and known/unknown variables all explicit.
2. First law (energy accounting)
Apply ΔU = Q − W for closed systems; ṁ(ĥ₂ − ĥ₁) for open systems. List each energy term and its sign convention. Write the energy balance equation.
Completion criterion: energy balance written with every term named and signed.
3. Second law (entropy)
Apply ΔS = ∫δQ_rev/T + S_gen. Compute S_gen ≥ 0. If an irreversibility is present (friction, mixing, finite ΔT), quantify it: lost work W_lost = T₀ · S_gen.
Completion criterion: entropy balance written; lost work computed if irreversibility present.
4. Pick the cycle / process
- Isothermal, adiabatic, polytropic, or specific process (Otto, Diesel, Rankine, Carnot, Brayton, refrigeration).
- For each step, apply the appropriate equation of state (ideal gas law, Van der Waals, Steam tables).
- Compute efficiency η = W_net / Q_in; compare to Carnot η = 1 − T_C/T_H.
Completion criterion: cycle named; each step computed; efficiency vs Carnot stated.
5. Phase transitions (if applicable)
- Clapeyron equation: dP/dT = ΔS/ΔV = ΔH/(TΔV).
- Phase diagram: identify phases, coexistence lines, critical point.
- Latent heat, specific heats, and supercooling / superheating.
Completion criterion: phase diagram described; latent heat and critical point computed.
6. Deliver
Markdown artifact: system definition, first law, second law, cycle analysis, efficiency, and the key bound (e.g. "this engine cannot exceed 60% Carnot efficiency at these temperatures").
Completion criterion: all sections present; efficiency bound stated.