One Setup, Three Systems

The system—surroundings concept is one of the most important in thermodynamics. Precisely defining a system is of critical importance to thermodynamic analysis. Even when studying the same problem, different individuals may opt to select different systems; therefore, choosing the correct system requires skill. In order to help students understand the various systems and their differences, a simple distillation setup is used to demonstrate the three thermodynamic systems: open, closed, and isolated.