Thermodynamics Lecture notes Download - Click Here Second Law of Thermodynamics Introduction First law is a statement of conservation of energy principle. Satisfaction of first law alone does not ensure that the process will actually take place. A cup of hot coffee left in a cooler room eventually cools off. This process satisfies the first law. The reverse of this process – coffee getting hotter as a result of heat transfer from a cooler room does not take place. Consider the heating of a room by the passage of electric current through a resistor. This process satisfies the first law. The reverse of this process – transferring some heat to the wires does not cause an equivalent amount of electric energy to be generated in the wires. • Processes proceed in a certain direction and not in the reverse direction • The first law places no restriction o...