Thread: Law of thermodynamics

hey guys, not sure if this is a chemistry issue or a physics issue, but i was discussing it with my chemistry teacher. so i put it here.

Basically there are a few known oscillating reactions. where the colour oscillates between two distinct colours.

He was asking why this happened. i gave a possible theory that it shifts to one side of the equilibrium. but then comes back to the other side.

he said that this doesnt work due to the law of thermodynamics,
i can do a wiki search on the law of thermodynamics but i can't see how it applies to this situation or why my idea is not in keeping with the law.

any explanation would be helpful.

THIS IS NOT HOMEWORK, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME

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Oscillating chemical systems are not easy to explain. At first they do seem thermodynamically impossible but they can be demonstrated.

See here http://www.faidherbe.org/site/cours/dupuis/oscil.htm for a complete discussion. Note that the article ventures into thermodynamics territory.

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yeh the chem teacher showed me one, but it turned out that to be way above the equilibrium point. so gg to my theory i suppose