11/27/2023 0 Comments What is entropy![]() The Big Bang was a state of very low entropy. There is strong evidence that the universe is started with what is now known as the Big Bang. ![]() There are many more high entropy states available than low entropy states. It’s not something that follows from the basic laws of physics it’s really a consequence of statistics. But why is this? Why must we live in a universe where disorder is constantly growing, and order is so hard to come by? The Big Bang Only to be swept up requiring even more energy. And the hair that was removed was chaotically dispersed across the floor. Fossil fuels were incinerated to provide electricity for the Clippers. The barber burned calories to operate the scissors. However, even though the entropy may be lower on your head and face, according to the second law of thermodynamics, the overall entropy of the entire system must have increased. Getting a haircut is another example of taking a disordered system and transforming it into an ordered system a sexy ordered system. However a coffee cup is not an isolated system and the only way it can lower its entropy is by releasing its heat into the room, thereby increasing the total entropy of the surrounding environment. But be careful that as it cools, its entropy will actually decrease. We all know that a hot cup of coffee will cool over time, and it’s delicious. Ice has even less entropy because of the restricted movement of water molecules in a solid formation. ![]() And the Sun is constantly radiating energy into space, increasing the entropy of our entire solar system.Ī hot cup of coffee has higher entropy than a cold cup of coffee, because hot water molecules have more movement than cold water molecules, and are therefore more disordered. In the case of plant life most of this energy comes from the Sun. But this order does not come without a price! It takes a lot of energy to lower the entropy of a system. And life on this planet at least can pretty much pop up anywhere we look, even from a rough chaotic environment. A perfect example of this is life a living organism is a highly ordered low entropy system. So as time goes, it whether remains the same or increase. The second law of thermodynamics will tell you that the entropy of an isolated system cannot decrease as a function of time. Advertisement- The second law of thermodynamics This natural tendency of entropy to increase over time is described by the second law of thermodynamics. But it’s extremely unlikely and something we probably won’t ever see in our lifetime. Now try to the opposite with the single shot, put them back in the order! The disorder of the table increases, and the number of possible configurations, Therefore the entropy of the pool table has increased. As the game begins, however, the balls are quickly scattered. Let’s just say you’re playing a game of pool a typical game begins with the balls arranged in a highly ordered configuration. This equation knows as Boltzmann’s entropy formula. ![]() The entropy of an ideal gas for example can be expressed with this equation: S=K BlnW where S equals entropy K B is the Boltzmann constant, which equal 1.38062×10 -23Joules/Kelvin. There are several different definitions, entropy is first of all a measure of disorder, it’s a measure of how many ways you can reorganize a given system. It’s the natural way of our universe and it’s all because of something called entropy. In fact every glass cup ever made will ultimately share the same shattered broken fate, whether it’s in a dumpster, recycling plant or on your kitchen floor. But we all know from experience that this isn’t the way things work. But why does this happen? Well aside from carelessness that is, why don’t we ever see the opposite? Why don’t we ever see shards of broken glass fuse together and combine with liquid to create a full unbroken cup? According to the laws of physics, this is technically possible. Living organisms age and deteriorate over time.Ī man preparing a delicious snack becomes distracted. We are capable of building amazing and complex structures, but everything that we create eventually decays and falls apart. ![]() But there is something else at work here too: a natural phenomenon that affects the fate of everything in our universe. Living creatures and physical objects behave according to the laws of motion, quantum mechanics and relativity. There is a natural progression of events, of causes and effects. We’re used to our universe behaving in a certain way. ![]()
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