We explain what a closed system is, its characteristics and various examples. Also, what are open and isolated systems.
What is a closed system?
When we use the term closed system, we refer to a portion of the universe taken for study as something separate from the rest, that is, a system whose characteristic feature is not allowing free exchange with the environment . That is, it is a system separated from the rest of the environment, closed on itself: the complete opposite of open systems.
This approach to reality comes from General Systems Theory, an interdisciplinary perspective that emerged in the mid-20th century, and is applicable to natural sciences and social sciences alike. A totally closed system, that is, one that does not allow any type of exchange with the environment, is called an isolated system.
The idea of a totally closed system is useful only as an abstraction: one can consider a system as closed in order to focus on its internal elements, without taking into consideration the outside, as long as the functioning of the system allows it.
For this reason, in natural sciences such as physics, those that only exchange energy (heat, for example) with the environment, and not matter, are called closed systems. While in the social sciences, closed systems are those that enjoy a certain margin of autonomy, that is, that do not require a constant injection of resources from outside, or that do not allow the entry of foreign elements into it.
Characteristics of closed systems
Closed systems are characterized by the following:
- They are clearly separated from the environment either through barriers or separations, or simply because they have very clear boundaries between inside and outside. In any case, no significant element can cross these limits, neither from the inside to the outside, nor vice versa.
- In some cases can there is energy exchange, but not freely and the entry of new resources from outside is not possible either.
- These are, therefore, autonomous systems, which do not require anything that is not within the system itself. Therefore, your resources are limited .
- Totally closed systems are called isolated and they exist only on a theoretical level.
Examples of closed systems
In their different possible areas of application, the following cases constitute examples of a closed system:
- From a philosophical point of view, there is no other closed system that the universe : what is in it is all that exists, therefore nothing enters or leaves its system (that we know, at least): there is no outside of the universe.
- In thermodynamics, closed systems are considered to be those that only exchange energy, but not matter, with the environment. Such is the case, for example, of the gas that circulates in a cooling circuit (a refrigerator, for example), in which it is not possible for the gas (matter) to escape, but the energy can (in the form of heat, generally in the back of the device).
- In the business world, they are considered organizations closed to companies that do not have any type of dialogue or interference in their environment limiting themselves to their own functions regardless of where they are.
- In computing, closed systems are considered to be those computer systems that do not allow the entry and exit of information so they are not connected to any other system. It is also common to use the term to refer to traditional software, as opposed to free source software, which allows users to intervene in its programming.
Open systems
Open systems, as we said at the beginning, are the complete opposite of closed ones. in them There are no limits or impediments that prevent the free flow of information between the inside and the outside. and therefore they are systems of infinite, but external resources, in constant connection with the environment.
Isolated systems
Isolated systems are a consideration of thermodynamic physics. They are called that because are too far removed from other systems to interact effectively with them . In other cases they have boundaries that restrict the exchange between inside and outside, as in the case of thermal insulators that prevent heat loss from a thermal container, in thermal winter clothing, or in the edges of a refrigerator.
References
- “Closed system” on Wikipedia.
- “Open system” on Wikipedia.
- “Types of systems: open, closed and isolated” (video) in Ticmas Educación.
- “Closed system, open system and isolated system” (video) in Industrial Engineering Systems Tutorials.
- “The company as a system: analysis of business systems” at the Distance University of Madrid (Spain).
