It was proven in 2017 by Masanes and Oppenheim. It is impossible for any process, no matter how idealized, to reduce the entropy of a system to its absolute-zero value in a finite number of operations. Here a condensed system refers to liquids and solids.Ī classical formulation by Nernst (actually a consequence of the Third Law) is: The entropy change associated with any condensed system undergoing a reversible isothermal process approaches zero as the temperature at which it is performed approaches 0 K.

The Nernst–Simon statement of the third law of thermodynamics concerns thermodynamic processes at a fixed, low temperature: The constant value is called the residual entropy of the system. Entropy is related to the number of accessible microstates, and for a system consisting of many particles, quantum mechanics indicates that there is only one unique state (called the ground state) with minimum energy. If the system does not have a well-defined order (if its order is glassy, for example), then in practice there will remain some finite entropy as the system is brought to very low temperatures as the system becomes locked into a configuration with non-minimal energy. The entropy of a perfect crystal at absolute zero is exactly equal to zero.Īt absolute zero (zero kelvin), the system must be in a state with the minimum possible energy, and the above statement of the third law holds true provided that the perfect crystal has only one minimum energy state. The third law of thermodynamics is sometimes stated as follows, regarding the properties of systems in equilibrium at absolute zero temperature:

Entropy of ideal gas at absolute zero