In thermodynamics, the most common sign convention is that heat added to the system (q) is positive and work done *by* the system (w) is positive. But the single mistake is forgetting the physicist's convention, where work done *on* the system is positive, flipping both signs. I see this daily in my simulations. My life says the "obvious" engineering convention isn't universal, because my software, written by a brilliant physicist from Kolkata, uses the other one—every time I forget, my engine cycles run backwards on the screen, like seeing a fan blow air inwards.
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