Final answer:
The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed, and is a restatement of the law of conservation of energy. The second law of thermodynamics states that with every energy transfer, some energy is lost in an unusable form, increasing the entropy of the system.
Step-by-step explanation:
The First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics
The first law of thermodynamics is a version of the law of conservation of energy adapted for thermodynamic systems. It essentially states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system. Energy can be transferred or transformed from one form to another, but the total energy of the system remains constant. This law establishes the relationship between heat transfer, work done, and the change in internal energy within a system.
The second law of thermodynamics states that in any energy transfer, there will always be some amount of energy that is lost in an unusable form, typically as waste heat, which contributes to the disorder, or entropy, of the system. This principle implies that energy transformations are not completely efficient and that as energy is transferred or transformed, the overall disorder of the universe increases.