isotermaattinen

Isotermaattinen refers to a process or condition where the temperature remains constant. In thermodynamics, an isotermaattinen process is one that occurs at a fixed temperature. This means that any heat added to or removed from the system is precisely balanced by the work done by or on the system, so that the internal energy, and thus the temperature, does not change.

An example of an isotermaattinen expansion is when a gas in a cylinder is slowly compressed while being in contact with a heat reservoir. If the compression is slow enough, heat can flow from the gas to the reservoir, maintaining a constant temperature. Conversely, an isotermaattinen compression would involve work being done on the gas, and heat flowing out to keep the temperature steady.

The concept of isotermaattinen processes is fundamental in understanding the behavior of gases and in analyzing various thermodynamic cycles, such as the Carnot cycle, which involves two isotermaattinen and two adiabatic processes. The word itself originates from Greek, with "iso" meaning "equal" and "therma" meaning "heat," directly implying equal heat or constant temperature.