Quasi-Static Process
quasi-static process
[¦kwä·zē ′stad·ik ′prä·səs] (thermodynamics)
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Quasi-Static Process
equilibrium process, the infinitely slow transition of a thermodynamic system from one equilibrium state to another, in which the physical state of the system at any given moment differs infinitesimally from the equilibrium state. Equilibrium in a system in a quasi-static process is established many times more rapidly than change in the physical parameters of the system. Any quasi-static process is reversible. Quasi-static processes play an important role in thermodynamics, since thermodynamic cycles including only quasi-static processes yield maximum work values. The term "quasi-static process" was proposed in 1909 by C. Caratheodory.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.