Question

What is an isothermal process\[?\] What are the essential conditions for an isothermal process to take place \[?\]

Answer 1

Hint: We know that the system is said to undergo a thermodynamic process, when the system undergoes change from one equilibrium microstate to another microstate due to change in properties like temperature, pressure, etc. Example when increasing the pressure of a gas it changes into a liquid at a constant temperature. The four types of thermodynamic process are isobaric, isochoric, isothermal and adiabatic.

Complete answer:
An isothermal process is a thermodynamic process in which the temperature of the system remains constant or simply the change of a substance or system at a constant temperature is known as Isothermal process. In this process there is no change in the internal energy due to change in temperature is zero (\[\Delta T = 0\]) and therefore \[\Delta U = 0\] for ideal gases.
They are two essential conditions for an isothermal process to take place. First, the system should be perfectly conducting to the surroundings and second, the process must be carried out very slowly so that there is required time for exchange of heat with the surroundings to maintain temperature constant.

Note:
Note that the work done in an isothermal process is due to the change of net heat content of the system. Isobaric process is a process in which the pressure is kept constant. Isochoric process is a process in which the volume is kept constant. Whereas an adiabatic process is a process in which the heat transfer is zero.