{ "model": { "rank": 17483, "code": "thing-q230875", "model_id": "vr.tr.thermodynamic-state", "name": "thermodynamic state", "purpose": "Let an agent explain thermodynamic states and state variables, relay equilibrium, standard and steady-state concepts from thermodynamics references, describe how states are represented and used, and distinguish thermodynamic state from microstate, phase, process and the everyday sense of state.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Cross-cutting context", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "XCT", "domain": "XCT.STA", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q230875/", "tier": 2, "score": 31, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "non-equilibrium steady state", "saturated vapour", "standard state", "Standard state" ], "aliasCount": 4, "merged": 4, "knownIn": 31, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q230875", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q230875", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T13:11:03Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 4, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q230875", "registryId": "vr.tr.thermodynamic-state", "name": "thermodynamic state", "version": "0.2.0-wave.4", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "XCT.STA" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q230875/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.thermodynamic-state", "name": "thermodynamic state", "purpose": "Let an agent explain thermodynamic states and state variables, relay equilibrium, standard and steady-state concepts from thermodynamics references, describe how states are represented and used, and distinguish thermodynamic state from microstate, phase, process and the everyday sense of state.", "definition": "The condition of a thermodynamic system specified by its state variables such as temperature, pressure, volume and composition, including equilibrium states, standard states defined by convention for tabulating thermodynamic data, special states such as saturated vapour in equilibrium with its liquid, and non-equilibrium steady states in which flows persist while properties stay constant; the state determines all thermodynamic properties through equations of state.", "what_it_is_for": "Not applicable; a physical concept.", "affordances": [ "explain state variables", "relay equilibrium and standard states", "describe representation", "distinguish related concepts" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Defined by state variables", "Path-independent functions", "Standard conventions", "Equilibrium and steady states" ], "appearance": "Not a visible object; a point on a state diagram.", "visual_identification": [ "Condition specified by state variables", "Equilibrium state, standard state, saturated vapour, non-equilibrium steady state", "A microstate is a molecular configuration; a phase is a homogeneous region; a process changes states" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "standard pressure", "typical_range": "100", "unit": "kPa", "note": "IUPAC since 1982" }, { "quantity": "state variables for a simple system", "typical_range": "2", "unit": "count", "note": "independent, by the state postulate" }, { "quantity": "saturated vapour", "typical_range": "at the vapour pressure", "unit": "note", "note": "" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "equilibrium states", "standard states for data tabulation", "saturated and two-phase states", "non-equilibrium steady states", "metastable states" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "physical state", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "is described by", "target": "equation of state", "why": "relating variables" }, { "relation": "is represented on", "target": "phase diagram", "why": "as points and regions" }, { "relation": "is contrasted with", "target": "thermodynamic process", "why": "which changes the state" } ], "identifiers": [], "standards_and_regulation": [ "IUPAC recommendations for standard states", "NIST and IAPWS property tables" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Confusing state with process or path", "Using outdated standard pressure conventions", "Confusing steady state with equilibrium" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What a thermodynamic state is.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-finding", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is a thermodynamic state, what are state variables and functions, and how does it differ from microstate, phase and process?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Is the question about the concept, a specific kind of state or a calculation?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "kinds", "name": "Kinds", "description": "Kinds.", "findings": [ { "id": "kinds-finding", "name": "Kinds", "description": "Kinds.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are equilibrium, standard, saturated vapour and non-equilibrium steady states?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific kind?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "theory", "name": "Theory", "description": "Theory.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "postulate", "name": "Postulate", "description": "State postulate.", "findings": [ { "id": "postulate-finding", "name": "Postulate", "description": "Postulate.", "questions": [ { "text": "How many variables fix a state, and what do equations of state say?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "functions", "name": "Functions", "description": "State functions.", "findings": [ { "id": "functions-finding", "name": "Functions", "description": "Functions.", "questions": [ { "text": "Why are internal energy, enthalpy and entropy state functions, and what follows from path independence?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which sources are cited?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "practice", "name": "Practice", "description": "Practice.", "rationale": "Practice.", "layers": [ { "id": "standard", "name": "Standard", "description": "Standard states and tables.", "findings": [ { "id": "standard-finding", "name": "Standard", "description": "Standard.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are standard states defined, and how are property tables used?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Which entry fits standard state?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "diagrams", "name": "Diagrams", "description": "Diagrams.", "findings": [ { "id": "diagrams-finding", "name": "Diagrams", "description": "Diagrams.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are states shown on phase, pressure-volume and temperature-entropy diagrams?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits phase diagram?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "context", "name": "Context", "description": "Beyond equilibrium.", "rationale": "Context.", "layers": [ { "id": "steady", "name": "Steady", "description": "Steady states.", "findings": [ { "id": "steady-finding", "name": "Steady", "description": "Steady.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are non-equilibrium steady states, and how does non-equilibrium thermodynamics treat them?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits non-equilibrium thermodynamics?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "findings": [ { "id": "history-finding", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "questions": [ { "text": "How did the concept of state develop in classical thermodynamics?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the history of thermodynamics?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should standard state and saturated vapour be separate primary entries?", "How should thermodynamics references be linked?", "The registry entry has merged aliases naming specific kinds of state; should they be split off?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a thermodynamic state, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain thermodynamic states and state variables, relay equilibrium, standard and steady-state concepts from thermodynamics references, describe how states are represented and used, and distinguish thermodynamic state from microstate, phase, process and the everyday sense of state.", "characteristics": { "substance": "abstract", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: non-equilibrium steady state, saturated vapour, standard state, Standard state.", "4 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 31 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a thermodynamic state, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "an abstraction with no physical instance", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "non-equilibrium steady state", "saturated vapour", "standard state", "Standard state" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 31 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 4 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one thermodynamic state from another, and a thermodynamic state from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a thermodynamic state sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a thermodynamic state from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a thermodynamic state passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a thermodynamic state between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a thermodynamic state, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a thermodynamic state is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What thermodynamic state is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of thermodynamic state are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is thermodynamic state operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of thermodynamic state and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of thermodynamic state?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as thermodynamic state?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a thermodynamic state came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a thermodynamic state and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a thermodynamic state is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a thermodynamic state, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a thermodynamic state, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a thermodynamic state is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 10, "findings": 12, "questions": 32 } } } }