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Can anyone explain what a cyclic integral is? My professor used it in his Thermodynamics lecture. One of the equations was

$\oint\:dv=0$

where $v$ is Volume.

Isn't the integral of $dv$ equal to $v$? Can anyone explain in simple terms?

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    Seems likely that the integral refers to the change in volume of some gas (or something) over the course of some thermodynamical $p$rocess, which is represented by a curve through the parameter space.2012-08-15

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The circle indicates that the (line) integral is taken around a closed curve. The integral of the differential $dv$ (whatever $v$ is) will always just be the net change in $v$. Around a closed curve, there is 0 net change, because you end up where you started. This article seems to explain in greater detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_integral

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    (This follows from Stokes' theorem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokes_theorem)2012-08-15