Its interesting that Wiki says for an
Irreversible Process:
Quote:
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All complex natural processes are irreversible. The phenomenon of irreversibility results from the fact that if a thermodynamic system, which is any system of sufficient complexity, of interacting molecules is brought from one thermodynamic state to another, the configuration or arrangement of the atoms and molecules in the system will change in a way that is not easily predictable. A certain amount of "transformation energy" will be used as the molecules of the "working body" do work on each other when they change from one state to another. During this transformation, there will be a certain amount of heat energy loss or dissipation due to intermolecular friction and collisions; energy that will not be recoverable if the process is reversed.
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I guess if a non-isolated system can somehow transfer this heat energy loss to its environment and back again, it could be reversible ?
Cheers