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This is just another way of saying that there are irreversible processes. The "why" is a little difficult to answer - it has simply been found BY EXPERIENCE, that there is a quantity, known as entropy, that doesn't decrease - and that this can help to explain WHY many processes are irreversible.
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∙ 13y ago
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∙ 8y agoBy definition, an isolated system is one where no mass enters or leaves and no energy enters or leaves. By the first law of thermodynamics, energy in an isolated system is conserved. It may change form, but it remains within the system. If mass were to enter or leave, it would carry some energy with it. If heat were to enter or leave the system or work were done by or on the system, again the energy would change - but if that happened, the system would no longer be considered isolated.
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∙ 10y agoThat's the way our Universe works. The "why" is a bit tricky to answer; according to Noether's Theorem, it is related to the fact that the laws of physics don't change over time! However, Noether's Theorem involves some pretty advanced math.
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What is the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy?
Usable energy is inevitably used for productivity, growth and repair. In the process, usable energy is converted into unusable energy. Thus, usable energy is irretrievably lost in the form of unusable energy.
What are Examples of entropy increasing?
This is a trick question, because in the world as we know it, entropy never decreases, since the chance of this happening approaches and infinitely small fraction. To answer the question though: Take any closed system of events that you've observed, and rewind the events as if you were "going back in time". Example: An egg the has splattered all of a sudden recombines off the floor and becomes a whole egg again. Some scientists believe that the last time entropy ever decreased in our universe was right before the big bang. Since this chance occurrence, entropy throughout the whole universe has been steadily increasing. My addition (person 2) - However, entropy CAN decrease locally, just not universally. Essentially entropy rests on the fact that work ultimately comes from a flow of heat energy from high to low, eventually balancing out. Once all the heat energy is uniform in the universe, we will experience "heat death" at which point no work will be able to be done. However, in systems WITHIN the closed system of the universe, entropy CAN be decreased. Freezing an ice cube, if you follow the entropy equation which I don't have with me, is one example of this. The cost of this local decrease in entropy is a universal increase in entropy from the heat released that is greater than the local decrease in entropy, thus the second law is not violated. Another example is biological growth. We humans develop from a single cell into a vastly complex arrangement of cells, but at the same time we produce heat that increases universal entropy more than our bodies decrease it.
What does the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics say about Direction of heat transfer?
In nature heat only moves naturally from warmer systems to cooler systems. One direction only. Never naturally from something cold into something hot. We can pump heat out of a system by doing work on it, such as a refrigerator where the refrigerant is compressed - making it much hotter than the surroundings - then letting it give off heat to the surroundings, then expanding it across a valve where the evaporation and expansion causes it to get colder than the inside of the fridge - then allowing it to absorb heat from the inside of the fridge, then sending it back to the compressor to start all over again.
Why does breaking an egg increase entropy?
This is an educated guess (i have never come across the analogy of an egg). Entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system. An egg shell contains the egg. When cracked, the egg is free to run out of the enclosed system, and it is unpredictable as to where the egg will go, thus it has become less ordered. It could also be less ordered as air can interact more freely with the egg, thus potentially spoiling it more freely than when it had its protective casing.
On what conditions does a spontaneous reaction become spontaneous?
For some non-spontaneous reactions, you can change the temperature. For other non-spontaneous reactions, there is nothing you can do to make it spontaneous. Nature favors reactions that increase a system's entropy (disorder) and nature favors reactions that are exothermic (they release enthalpy). Any reaction that does both of these things is spontaneous at all temperatures. Any reaction that does neither of these things is never spontaneous. As far as this question is concerned, the interesting reactions are endothermic reactions that increase entropy and exothermic reactions that decrease entropy. Whether these reactions are spontaneous depends on the temperature. The first variety (endothermic, increase entropy) will be spontaneous at high temperatures; the second (exothermic, decrease entropy) will be spontaneous at low temperatures. To find the temperature at which a reaction becomes spontaneous, one may apply the Gibbs equation: DG = DH - TDS where capital Ds stand for the Greek capital delta.
Can the law of entropy be expressed as follows a given system when left alone in nature will always fall into disorder and never more order If not how should it be expressed?
Trying to reduce entropy or the Second Law of Thermodynamics to a catch phrase leads to all sorts of problems. In the case of entropy saying that things always fall apart, never come together, misrepresents the concept. Overall as an entire Universe things do seem to be following that rule, but at a local level (frost forming, atoms fusing in suns, life, mud puddles warming in the sunlight, evolution, etc.) things do go from simplicity to complexity. It would be better to state that an decrease in one part of a system must be accompanied by a greater increase in entropy in another. There is no prohibition on decreasing entropy. According to the Division of Chemistry Education at Purdue: "Second Law: In an isolated system, natural processes are spontaneous when they lead to an increase in disorder, or entropy." This all hinges on the definition of "an isolated system". An isolated system is one in which neither matter nor energy are exchanged with the surroundings (of the system). So, this is a system that is not "connected to" anything else.
What the example of the statement the entropy of the universe can never decrease?
If a source of heat energy starts radiating from a point and continues without stop the entropy around that point will never decrease. As sun is the endless heat energy radiating source and surrounding's of that is known as universe accepted by everybody. So this is the example for the statement ' the entropy of the universe can never decrease.'
What statement best describes the second law of thermodynamics?
The entropy of the universe is increasing
An application of the first law of thermodynamics is energy does not increase or decrease?
The total energy of an isolated system will never increase nor decrease. Any increase in energy in a closed system (one where no mass crosses the system boundaries) must come by the addition of that energy from outside via heat or work. Likewise any decrease can only come via heat leaving the system or work being done by the system on its surroundings.
Which is a statement of the second law of thermodynamics?
Entropy tends to increase in a system.
In what condition does a particle act most like a ideal gas?
high temperatures, and low pressure. This increases the amount of entropy in the system. An ideal gas is created when entropy is at maximum value, which has never been reached.
What the second law of thermodynamics?
The second law of thermodynamics states that mechanical work can be derived from a body only when that body interacts with another at a lower temperature.---------------------------------------------Answer The laws of thermodynamics have been found to have broader application than the field of thermodynamics. The second law can be stated as: The entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium.- Where entropy can be regarded as randomness or 'chaos'. This application of the second law applies to closed systems, and therefore does not apply to systems that exchange information or energy outside the system. It does not apply to living organisms, as they are not closed systems. The second law applies to macroscopic systems, and therefore does not always apply to microscopic particles. In the field of thermodynamics, it can be stated from the above that the entropy of a thermally isolated macroscopic system never decreases.---------------------------------------------The second law of thermodynamics is:No process is possible whose sole result is the transfer of heat from a body of lower temperature to a body of higher temperature.==========From the pre-merge Expert answer by Hilmar Zonneveld... Confidence votes 60.8K There are many different ways the Second Law can be expressed, all of them equivalent. Here are some:* Useful energy can be converted to unusable energy - not the other way round.* In a closed system, a property called "entropy" can only increase over time - it can never decrease.* The efficiency of a heat engine can never be greater than that of the theoretical Carnot engine.
What is an example of decrease?
This is a trick question, because in the world as we know it, entropy never decreases, since the chance of this happening approaches and infinitely small fraction. To answer the question though: Take any closed system of events that you've observed, and rewind the events as if you were "going back in time". Example: An egg the has splattered all of a sudden recombines off the floor and becomes a whole egg again. Some scientists believe that the last time entropy ever decreased in our universe was right before the big bang. Since this chance occurrence, entropy throughout the whole universe has been steadily increasing. My addition (person 2) - However, entropy CAN decrease locally, just not universally. Essentially entropy rests on the fact that work ultimately comes from a flow of heat energy from high to low, eventually balancing out. Once all the heat energy is uniform in the universe, we will experience "heat death" at which point no work will be able to be done. However, in systems WITHIN the closed system of the universe, entropy CAN be decreased. Freezing an ice cube, if you follow the entropy equation which I don't have with me, is one example of this. The cost of this local decrease in entropy is a universal increase in entropy from the heat released that is greater than the local decrease in entropy, thus the second law is not violated. Another example is biological growth. We humans develop from a single cell into a vastly complex arrangement of cells, but at the same time we produce heat that increases universal entropy more than our bodies decrease it.
What is the relationship between entropy and energy?
In thermodynamics, entropy is a measure of the non-convertible energy (ie. energy not available to do work) inside a closed system. The concept of free energy involves tapping into an inexhaustible source of energy available to do work. Thus, in a system generating free energy, entropy would never increase, and the usable energy could be siphoned off forever. This illustrates, succinctly, why a free energy system can never exist.
What is a statement of the second law of thermodynamics?
Every reaction in the universe increases the disorder, or entropy, of the universe. This is because energy that goes into a reaction is usable energy, but after the reaction, the energy is not usable anymore.
Why can't entropy be destroyed?
The reason that entropy increases is related to statistics. It is possible in theory that a process occurs in such a way that entropy decreases, but this is so unlikely that it will never happen in practice.
What is the term for the measure of the disorder that never decreases in natural processes?
Entropy.
