Closed Simple System
A common example in which the state can be succinctly described is a closed simple system in an equilibrium state. A closed simple system is an ideal system devoid of any internal adiabatic, rigid, or impermeable boundaries and not being acted upon by any external force fields or inertial forces. Based on observation, scientists and engineers have postulated that the state of a simple system at equilibrium can be completely characterized by specifying two independent property variables, such as temperature and pressure, and the masses of the particular chemical species in the system. Relying on this postulate, for many chemical species, phase distribution and intrinsic phase properties such as density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, viscosity, enthalpy, and entropy have been reproducibly measured and catalogued as functions of temperature and pressure.
Read more about this topic: Thermodynamic State
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