Third law states?

Third law states?

• A. No substance can ever reach absolute zero.
• B. Absolute zero can be reached in finite steps.
• C. Entropy becomes zero at all temperatures.
• D. Energy cannot be transferred without work.

Answer: (A)

The Third Law describes how entropy behaves as temperature approaches absolute zero. Specifically, for a perfectly crystalline substance, the entropy tends toward zero as T goes to zero. Because removing energy to lower temperature becomes progressively harder the closer you get to absolute zero, reaching that limit would require an infinite number of steps or an infinite amount of time in any real process. That unattainability is the practical takeaway: absolute zero cannot be reached by finite operations. So the statement that no substance can ever reach absolute zero captures that consequence of the Third Law. The other ideas don’t fit: absolute zero cannot be achieved in a finite number of steps; entropy is not zero at all temperatures; and energy transfer can occur without work in general—these do not reflect the Third Law’s precise relation between temperature, entropy, and the unattainability of absolute zero.

The Third Law describes how entropy behaves as temperature approaches absolute zero. Specifically, for a perfectly crystalline substance, the entropy tends toward zero as T goes to zero. Because removing energy to lower temperature becomes progressively harder the closer you get to absolute zero, reaching that limit would require an infinite number of steps or an infinite amount of time in any real process. That unattainability is the practical takeaway: absolute zero cannot be reached by finite operations.

So the statement that no substance can ever reach absolute zero captures that consequence of the Third Law. The other ideas don’t fit: absolute zero cannot be achieved in a finite number of steps; entropy is not zero at all temperatures; and energy transfer can occur without work in general—these do not reflect the Third Law’s precise relation between temperature, entropy, and the unattainability of absolute zero.