What is thermodynamic equilibrium?
Thermodynamic equilibrium describes a system whose properties will not change without some sort of outside interference. In other words, a system in thermodynamic equilibrium will not change unless something is added or subtracted from it. An example of this is a lukewarm beverage. The beverage may have started out cold, but the heat from the air will move into the cold drink and make it warmer until it is the same temperature as the air—thus reaching thermodynamic equilibrium. In addition, because heat is moving from the air into the beverage, the air immediately around the cu\p will also become cooler. The process a system uses to reach thermodynamic equilibrium is described in two laws of physics: the First Law of Thermodynamics and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The first law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred. The second law says that in an isolated system, entropy will increase until equilibrium is reached. This is the essence of ther
