Connect with us

Space Exploration

What is the underlying reason for the eventual increase in disorder in all systems?

blank

Published

1 month ago

on

blank

If you sense that the world is descending into chaos, your intuition is accurate. Whether your observation pertains to politics and society or not, it is undeniable that on the cosmic timescale, order is deteriorating. That is its consistent behavior. But why?

Entropy is referred to as the measure of disorder in a system by physicists. From a scientific standpoint, it is described as the quantification of the energy within a system or process that cannot be utilized for performing tasks. Some people describe it as the level of unpredictability or lack of organization in a system. Regardless of the approach, the outcome remains unchanged.

The second law of thermodynamics affirms that the entropy of an isolated system cannot decrease. Given the dynamic nature of any work being done, it is evident that entropy in a closed system is in a constant state of increase. Given the closed nature of the universe, it follows that its entropy is inevitably increasing.

Exploring the reasons behind this can prompt inquiries into the inherent characteristics of the universe and the potential variations that could have occurred if circumstances had been slightly different. It is uncertain whether this question can be answered at present, and it may remain unanswered indefinitely. However, it is reasonable to suggest that in a hypothetical universe with slightly altered laws of physics, we may discover that our previous assumptions were incorrect and ultimately observe an unavoidable inclination towards disorder.

Arthur Eddington, a renowned physicist known for his groundbreaking confirmation of general relativity, once shared a valuable piece of advice with his students. He believed that the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that entropy always increases, held unparalleled significance among the laws of nature.

If someone were to bring to your attention that your personal theory of the universe contradicts Maxwell’s equations, then it would be unfortunate for Maxwell’s equations. If observation contradicts it, well, experimentalists occasionally make mistakes. If your theory is discovered to contradict the second law of thermodynamics, there is no hope for it. You will have no choice but to face the inevitable humiliation.

This quote continues to be remembered over a century later, as it remains steadfast while other principles of physics from Eddington’s time have fallen.

Understanding the second law
For someone new to the field of physics, understanding the second law of thermodynamics can be challenging. This law is often explained in ways that do not explicitly mention entropy, making it difficult to fully grasp its importance.

One way to explain the law is by stating the seemingly obvious fact that heat naturally moves from a hotter area to a colder one. It is indeed possible to reverse this process. Air conditioners work by cooling down the indoor space, which is typically cooler than the outside environment where the heat is released. However, accomplishing that requires a significant amount of effort, as is evident to anyone who receives their electricity bill after a summer of running the air conditioning.

Understanding the connection between this observation and entropy may not be immediately apparent, but it becomes more evident when we consider the other side of the law: the fact that not all the heat in a system can be converted into useful work in a cyclic process. No engine can achieve complete efficiency in converting heat into other forms of energy, let alone surpass it.

The inefficiency results in increased waste heat, leading to a higher amount of disordered molecules and overall entropy. Just as a biophysicist would observe, an engine has the ability to enhance the organization within a system. However, this improvement comes at the expense of generating additional chaos in its surroundings.

Even though discussions about heat transfer and engine efficiency may appear theoretical, the second law of thermodynamics is a means of expressing a concept that is well-known in other disciplines: nothing comes for free.

If the second law of thermodynamics did not hold true, the concept of free lunches would be applicable to everyone in the universe. It is possible to extract more energy from an operation than what was initially invested. It’s tempting to envision such a scenario, but for many of us, it seems instinctively clear that the universe doesn’t owe us anything, especially not a life without challenges.

There are individuals who do not acknowledge Eddington’s caution. Every year, patent offices and physics departments worldwide are inundated with messages from individuals asserting that they have created a perpetual motion machine. Some of these operate by harnessing the energy emitted by the sun or another external source, which is akin to a free lunch in terms of its availability. Due to the Earth’s interaction with external energy sources like sunlight and cosmic rays from space, which the planet absorbs and emits, these phenomena do not violate the second law of thermodynamics.

Harnessing the power of the sun, nature has been efficiently utilizing incoming energy to promote order on Earth for countless years. While plants and photosynthesizing algae have mastered this process, our solar panels are gradually advancing to keep pace. However, when viewed in a larger context, the increased entropy that the sun produces as a result of molecular fusion to produce heat overshadows any advancements made in fighting disorder.

Building a perpetual motion machine that operates without external energy goes against the second law of thermodynamics. If we were able to create numerous such machines, it would potentially lead to a more ordered universe, contradicting the natural increase of entropy. Many individuals, including renowned physicists, have made numerous attempts.

James Clerk Maxwell, the brilliant mind behind the equations Eddington mentioned, put forth the concept of a tiny entity, later playfully called Maxwell’s demon, which had the potential to create a perpetual motion machine by organizing molecules. It took many years to demonstrate the impossibility of this, even though the field of quantum physics still adds complexity to the matter.

Countless individuals have made bold assertions of triumph in the face of Maxwell’s failure, yet none have truly achieved it. The second law remains unchallenged.

There is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the ultimate destiny of the universe. There are certain models that suggest the possibility of the second law no longer having absolute control over our existence. At this stage, the most probable outcome for everything to conclude is the rather disheartening “heat death of the universe,” where energy is uniformly dispersed and entropy triumphs over all.

Post Views: 38
Related Topics:
blank

As Editor here at GeekReply, I'm a big fan of all things Geeky. Most of my contributions to the site are technology related, but I'm also a big fan of video games. My genres of choice include RPGs, MMOs, Grand Strategy, and Simulation. If I'm not chasing after the latest gear on my MMO of choice, I'm here at GeekReply reporting on the latest in Geek culture.

Continue Reading

Space Exploration

Astronauts take cover as swarms of broken pieces of a Russian satellite hit the Earth

blank

Published

1 hour ago

on

July 1, 2024

By

blank

The International Space Station (ISS) has had a busy week. First, a spacewalk had to be called off because coolant water got everywhere in the airlock. The astronauts then had to take cover in the spaceship they were in because there was a report of potentially dangerous space junk coming toward them.

The pieces were made when an old satellite broke apart. Resurs-P1 was a Russian commercial Earth observation satellite that was used until 2021, when it was turned off because some of its equipment stopped working. It wasn’t meant to deorbit, so it just kept going around in a circle about 355 kilometers (221 miles) above our heads. It would have burned up and lost altitude in the end, but on Wednesday, something else happened.

LeoLabs, a company that tracks satellites, says that the satellite broke into more than 100 pieces that can be tracked. The ISS is farther away than their orbit; it is between 413 and 422 kilometers (257 and 262 miles) high. Even so, some of the debris could still hit the ISS, so the astronauts were told to stay inside as a safety measure.

Starting around 8:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 26, NASA told crews on the space station to take cover in their own spacecraft as a standard safety measure after learning that a satellite had broken up near the station earlier that day. NASA wrote in a blog post that Mission Control kept an eye on the path of the debris and after about an hour, the crew was told they could leave their spacecraft and normal operations returned to the station.

LeoLabs said Thursday afternoon that they were tracking at least 180 pieces of debris, and they expect that number to go up. The sudden breaking apart of the satellite is still not clear, but LeoLabs hopes to be able to figure it out.

It’s possible that Resurs-P1 was hit by another piece of space junk, which caused a swarm of debris. The object Resurs-P1 is not small; it’s about the size of a van. A van that is going 5 miles per second (8 km/h). It’s very fast, so even a small thing hitting it would do a lot of damage.

A collision of space junk is a big problem because it could cause the Kessler Syndrome, which is a chain reaction of debris that blocks access to a certain orbital region. A lot of people want satellites to have a plan for deorbiting right now to avoid this kind of thing.

Post Views: 2
Continue Reading

Engineering

Gravitational wave research helps clear up the mystery of the ancient Antikythera mechanism

blank

Published

3 days ago

on

June 28, 2024

By

blank

People have been interested in the Antikythera mechanism for more than 120 years, and new research has shed more light on this amazing machine in recent years. The pieces that are still there show that it was probably used to figure out things like eclipses and where the planets were in the sky. With some statistical methods that are often used in gravitational wave research, astronomers from the University of Glasgow have found more proof that it is linked to the Moon.

Professor Graham Woan and Dr. Joseph Bayley each used a different method after an interesting X-ray analysis of the object was done years ago. Some people don’t know how many holes are in one of the rings, which is thought to be a calendar. There is only a small piece of the ring left, and it’s hard to say for sure what it is because it spent 2,000 years underwater.

Based on the X-ray data, Woan and Bayley used bayesian statistics to determine how many holes there were in the rings. The most likely number was either 354 or 355 holes, they found. Around 354 days make up a lunar calendar. Based on the research, this number is 100 times more likely than 360 holes, which is what the Egyptian solar calendar has. This means that a 365-hole ring, which would be like a real solar year, is very unlikely.

“Towards the end of last year, a colleague showed me data that YouTuber Chris Budiselic had collected. Budiselic was trying to make a copy of the calendar ring and was looking into ways to find out how many holes it had,” Professor Woan said in a statement. “I thought it was an interesting problem that I might be able to solve in a new way over the Christmas break, so I started using some statistical methods to find the answer.”

The Markov Chain Monte Carlo and nested sampling methods were used. These are common ways to figure out how likely one result is given incomplete data. These techniques lead us to believe that the whole ring was 77.1 millimeters across and had either 354 or 355 holes spaced 0.028 millimeters apart.

“Previous research had suggested that the calendar ring probably followed the lunar calendar, but the two methods we used in this project make it much more likely that this was the case,” Dr. Bayley said. “It’s made me appreciate the Antikythera mechanism and the work and care that Greek craftsmen put into making it even more. To punch the holes so precisely, they would have needed to be measured very accurately and punched with a very steady hand.”

The study has been written up in The Horological Journal.

Post Views: 6
Continue Reading

Space Exploration

China releases the first samples of the far side of the moon ever

blank

Published

3 days ago

on

June 28, 2024

By

blank

The first samples ever taken from the far side of the moon have been opened by scientists in China.

Chang’e 6 softly landed on the far side of the moon on June 1. It was the second time China had done this, and they are still the only country to have done it.

The lander brought something back for the European Space Agency (ESA): a negative ion detector. This detector has already picked up negative ions as they are thrown up by the lunar surface.

Author Martin Wieser said in a statement, “These observations on the Moon will help us better understand the surface environment and act as a pathfinder to explore negative ion populations in other airless bodies in the Solar System, from planets to asteroids and other moons.”

But the main goal of the mission is to bring back the first samples from the far side of the Moon. On Tuesday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) landed in the Inner Mongolia desert to do just that. It was flown to Beijing on Wednesday, and at the China Academy of Space Technology, it was opened.

Researchers from all over China who have applied for access will sort the samples before they are studied. Scientists from around the world might be able to use this after two years, according to Space.com.

“One of the most fundamental questions in lunar research”—what geologic activity is responsible for the differences between the two sides of the Moon—is what Zongyu Yue, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the South China Morning Post. This is what the samples are meant to do.

Even though it’s called the “dark side” of the moon, the far side gets about the same amount of sunlight. But there are big differences between them, which we found out when we started traveling through space.

The Moon’s far side has many craters, but not as many deep basins and “lunar seas” as its near side. In 2012, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission measured that the far side’s crust was thicker. It also seems to be more conductive, which is strange.

There are several ideas about how the sides got to be so different. One is that Earth used to have two moons that orbited it and crashed into each other early in its history. Another is that a dwarf planet later crashed into a smaller Earth moon.

You can study the far side of the moon from space, but there’s nothing better than taking samples yourself. Scientists hope that the samples will help them figure out how the moon formed. They also think that the samples might contain water, oxygen, and hydrogen that can be used for future missions.

Post Views: 7
Continue Reading

Trending