Reversible Reactions

[Rhea Shah 2F]

Why is it that the greatest work that is done for a process is the work that takes place reversibly?

[Ryan Lee 1E]

Work is F*d, and here, the F*d is equivalent to P*V. In an irreversible reaction, the pressure instantly drops to a lower value and so the lower value is multiplied by V. In a reversible reaction, the pressure slowly drops, which means that we have to sum all the infinitely small sections of P*V. This includes sections at the beginning where P is still at the high point. This means that over the course of the reaction, the average pressure is higher and so the work done would also be higher.

[Joowon Seo 3A]

Since it uses all of the heat going into the system and converts it to work. The heat is not converted to the temperature of a system.