Thermodynamic Process and Cycle

When a system starts from an initial state and undergoes a number of different change of states or processes and returns back to the same initial state, then the system is said to undergo a thermodynamic cycle. 

A number of the following thermodynamic processes are defined depending on how a process is controlled  

Isothermal process A constant temperature process Isobaric process A constant pressure process Isochoric process A constant volume process 

Adiabatic process A process with no heat transfer 

Polytropic process A process in which the relationship between pressure and volume is given asPV = constant. The index n may be any value from -°o to +° depending on the process. 

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