A visual proof of entropy production during thermalization with a heat reservoir

Abstract

In this note, the equilibrium curve of a thermodynamic system is used to depict entropy production in the process of thermalization with a reservoir. For the given initial and final equilibrium states of the system, the entropy production is reduced when work is also extracted during thermalization. The case of maximum work extraction corresponds to a reversible process. For less than optimal work extraction, the lost available work is shown to be directly proportional to the entropy produced.