Entropy1

EntropyCantheEndbeDelayed?

KevinThies
APEnvironmentalScience
May6,2016

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BACKGROUND
Energyiseverywhere.Everydayweuseenergy,fromusingalighttoseewhenthesun
movesbelowthehorizonorthecombustionintheengineofthebusinessmanscarasheheadsto
worktoeventhemovementofhishandsasheturnsthewheel.However,witheachmovement,
energychangesforms,andwhileenergycanneitherbecreatednordestroyed,itcanturninto
formsthatcannotbeused.That'stheideabehindthermodynamicentropy.
Toputitextremelysimply,theuniversewillrunoutofthermodynamicfreeenergy,
whichisenergycapableofperformingthermodynamicwork.Onewaytothinkaboutitislikea
Prius.APrius,asitbrakes,generateselectricalpowerinitsbattery.However,evenifonewasto
driveaPriusconstantlybrakingtogenerateenergy,therewouldeventuallybeapointduring
whichthePriusrunsoutoffuelandelectricalpower,asthereisnot100%efficiencyinthe
conversionofchemicalpotentialenergyinthefueltokineticenergyofthemovingcartoelectric
potentialenergyinthebattery.
Intheend,thiscannotbeprevented.Asaspecies,wecannotpreventthereactions
happeninginthecoresofbillionsuponbillionsofsunsoreveninourownbodies.However,I
amofthebeliefthatwecandelaythisheatdeath,ifevenforaninfinitesimallyinsignificant
amountoftime.

HISTORY
Theproblembeginswiththebeginningoftheuniverse,howeverthatmaybe.Atthis
point,therewasafiniteamountofthermodynamicfreeenergy,andthattherewasonly
primarilythermodynamicfreeenergy.Inanyclosedsystem,theentropyofthatsystemwill

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increaseovertime.Thistrendwillcontinue,andeventuallytheentropyoftheuniversewillreach
itsmaximum,whichistheheatdeathoftheuniverse.Onecanthinkofthislikeacupofhot
coffeeinaroom.Eventually,afterenoughtime,thetemperaturewilldispersefromthecupand
becomebalancedwiththetemperatureoftheroom.However,intheuniverse,therearemany
differentgalaxieswithmultitudesofsunsandevenmoreplanets(Frautschi,1982,pp.593599).
Theideaofauniversalheatdeathoriginatedinthe1851viewoutlinedbyLordKelvin
applyingthefirsttwolawsofthermodynamicsonauniversalscale.Heobservedthat:

Consideringitasthusestablished,thatheatisnotasubstance,butadynamicalformof
mechanicaleffect,weperceivethattheremustbeanequivalencebetweenmechanicalwork
andheat,asbetweencauseandeffect.(Thomson,1852,p.174)

In1852,heobservedthatmechanicalmotionandtheenergythatgoesintomechanicalmotion
tendstonaturallydissipateorrundownovertimebasedonthesecondlawofthermodynamics
(Thomson,1852,p.511).Theseobservations,pairedwiththeconferenceofWilliamRankine
andHermannvonHelmholtz,resultedinLordKelvinsfollowingconclusion:Theresultwould
inevitablybeastateofuniversalrestanddeath,iftheuniversewerefiniteandlefttoobey
existinglaws.(Thomson,1862,pp.388393).Basically,giventhecurrentphysicallaws,energy
willdisperseoverthevastnessofthecosmosresultinginastateatwhichtheamountofenergy
approachesnothing.
Strictlyspeaking,Ihave,inmysearching,foundnootherpartiesthatdirectlyaddressthe
eventualheatdeathoftheuniverseasIdo.However,iftheapproachtotheissueistouseless
thermodynamicfreeenergy,theninreality,manysuchpartiesexist.Forexample,Green

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Americaisagroupthataddresseseconomicsolutionstoenvironmental
problemsandempowersconsumerstomakeadifference.Oneaction
theyhavetakenistopromoteeatingloweronthefoodchainfora
greenerAmerica.Anothergroupthathastakenactionthathappensto
promotereducingtheuseofthermodynamicfreeenergyisCarbusters.
Carbustersisagroupthataimstoreducecaruse,andtheyhavetaken
suchactionsasarrangingprotestsandbiketours.Sincecarsdomuchmorethantransportpeople,
giventheuseofairconditionersandradiosandtheworks,theconversionofenergytodistance
traveledcanbelessefficientthanusingabike(Findacitation).
Onthetopicoflawsandtreatiesregardinguniversalheatdeath,Thelawsof
Thermodynamicsplayakeyrole.However,asfaraslegislationgoes,nolawshavedirectly
addressedtheheatdeathoftheuniverse.Lawshavebeenpassedthatindirectlyrelateto
universalheatdeath.The1977DepartmentofEnergyOrganizationActsetuptheUS
DepartmentofEnergy,andoneoftheirmanygoalsistoincreaseenergyconservation(US
DepartmentofEnergy).Anotherpieceoflegislationisthe1992EnergyPolicyAct,which
addressedenergyefficiencyandotherrelatedtopics(USDepartmentofEnergy,2014).Of
course,therearemanyotherpiecesoflegislation,bothintheUSandabroad,thattoacertain
degreeworktoreduceourenergyuseandefficiency,directlyputtingofftheheatdeathofthe
universe.However,listingallofthesepiecesoflegislationcouldeasilyjustturnintoa
novelsizedlist,sothosetwoexampleswillsuffice.

CAUSESOFTHEPROBLEM

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Everytimeenergychangesforms,someenergygetsreleasedasheat.Byitsnature,heat
hasahigherentropythanotherformsofenergy.Inasense,heatcanbeseenastheproblem,as
whenthehigherpercentageoftheuniversesenergyisheat,thegreateramountofentropyisin
thesystem.
Withthisinmind,thecausesoftheproblembecomesystemsthatconsumeenergyand
outputheat,asreducingthesewillslowtheincreaseof
universalentropyovertime.Onthelargestpossiblescale,
thefirstthingtocometomindisthestars.Oursunconsumes
600milliontonsofheliumpersecondtooutput3.8x1026
joules/second(Barbier,2012),andisanaveragestar
(Springob,2016).Consideringtheamountofstarsinagalaxyandhowmanygalaxiesthereare
likelytobe,thenumberoftotalstarscanbeestimatedat1x1029,or1octillion,stars(Howell,
2014).Eventhoughthatsalikelyunderestimation,wecanusethesenumberstocalculatethe
energyoutputofallthestarsinouruniverseat3.8x1054joulespersecond.Eachstarislikethe
coffeecupintheexampleofthecoffeecupinaroomthatenergyistheheatthatradiatesinto
theroom,andwithenoughtime,thecupandtheroomwillreachthermodynamicequilibrium.In
thecaseofdelayingtheheatdeathoftheuniverse,theresnotmuchwecandoaboutstars.We
havetozoominabitinordertoseeourownimpact.
TheplanetEarthcontainsoverabillioncars.Eachofthesecarsdrivearound,converting
thechemicalpotentialenergyingasolineintokineticenergy,andweasaspecieshavebeen
doingmoreofiteachyear.However,Thegasolineenginesofcarsmaxoutataround2530%

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thermalefficiency.Thismeansthat7075%ofenergygoingintothesystemperformsnothermal
work,andiswasteenergy.

Onanevencloserscope,humanscontributetoentropy.Therearemanyreactionsinside
thehumanbodyeveryday.Arestingmale,onaverage,releases110joulesofheatenergyevery
second(Ozcanli,2010).Whenexercising,humansoutputbetween200and300joulespersecond
(Anthony,2012).Whatwechoosetodo,beitrestingorwalking,contributestotheheatdeathof
theuniverse.

ConsequencesoftheProblem
Atthepresent,ourtotaleffectonthefateoftheuniverseisslim.Consideringallof
humanhistory,itsunlikelythatmankindhaspushedtheuniverseevenafewsecondscloserto
heatdeath.However,onaglobalscale,oureffectsaremorenoticeable.Byoutputtingheat,we
contributetothewarmingoftheEarth.Activities,likedrivingcars,outputheataswellasother
pollutantsthatenterouratmosphere,contributingtoglobalwarming.Usingwaterandsteam
turbinesinnuclearpowerplantsreleasesheat,andtheheatedwastewatermightmakeitsway
intoastream,killingfish.Theseactivitiesintheirownwaycontributetouniversalthermal
equilibrium,buttheyhaveotherconsequencesonourworld.Inthefarfuture,therisinglevelof
entropyintheuniversewillresultinauniversewherenothingcanhappen,auniversethatwillsit
preservedforever.Thatendisinevitable.However,mankindwillbegonebythen,andthere
wontbeanythingwecantotopreventthatfate.

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Action
Justbecausethatfateisinevitabledoesntmeanthatitcantbedelayed.Ifwereducethe
amountoftimeswechangeenergysforms,thereforereleasingheatandincreasingthe
universesentropy,wecandelaytheheatdeathoftheuniverse.

BasedondatafromAugustof2014,about2.98trillionmilesaredrivenperyearbyevery
carintheworld.Theaveragevehiclegoesseventeenandahalfmilestothegallon,soon
average,170.3billiongallonsofgasolineareconsumed
eachyear(USEnergyAdministration,2012).Only
2530%ofthegasolinesenergyisactuallyusedforwork,
meaningthattheremaining7075%isreleasedasheat
energy,doingnowork(Baglione,2007).Ifagallonoffuel
contains1.3x108joules(Energyinnaturalprocesses,
2005),andaboutroughly72.5%ofenergyfromgasoline
iswasted,then,globally,about1.605x1019joulesof
energyarereleasedperyear,or5.09x1011joulesare
wastedpersecondglobally.Now,thatamountisinsignificantcomparedtothe3.8x1054joules
releasedpersecondofallthestars,butthatmeansthatifwestopusingcarsforasinglesecond,
oratleastpreventedcombustioninallcarsfromonesecond,wedelaythermodynamic
equilibriumby7.466Planckunits,whichisthebriefestmeaningfulspanoftime.However,
thatsnottosuggestthatweneedtostopusingcars,itonlymeansthatbyreducingtheamount
wetravel,themorewecandelayuniversalheatdeath.

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Anotheractionwecantakeistochoosetonotunnecessarilyexercise.Rememberhowa
restingmaleoutputs110joulespersecond,butwhenexercising,outputsbetween200and300
joulespersecond?Thatmeansthat,onaverage,choosingtoexerciseovernotexercisingreleases
140morejoulespersecondofheat.Foreachsecondapersonexercises,theuniversecomes3.68
x109Planckunits,or3.68x1053secondsclosertouniversalheatdeath.Insteadoftakingthat
hikeduringyourfreetime,dont.Bysimplychoosingrestoverexertion,youhavemadea
measurabledifferenceindelayingtheheatdeathoftheuniverse.

OpposingViewpoint
Asconcreteastheideais,therearethoseouttherewhoopposeit,insomewayor
another.ThepositionofNaturalisticEvolutionisthatovertime,atomswillorderthemselvesin
anincreasinglycomplexmannerovertime,thusresultinginevolution(Taylor,1999).However,
thisistheexactoppositeofthesecondlawofthermodynamicsandentropy,whichstatesthat
overtime,thereismoredisorderinasystem.Toaddressthepointthatthingsorderupwardsto
resultinevolution,thisisnotnecessarilythecase.Onceagaingoingbacktotheexampleofthe
cupofcoffeeinaroom,thehotcupofcoffeedecreasesinentropyastimegoeson.Asitradiates
heatintotheroom,theenergyinsidethecoffeebecomesmorestructured,ortolookatitin
anothersense,theratioofheattofreeenergy,orcalories,decreasesovertime.However,the
roomasasystemwillincreaseinentropyovertime.Therefore,auniversalshifttowardsorderis
notnecessaryfortheretobeatargetedshifttowardsorder.Mysecondpointagainstthisviewis
thatthesecondlawofthermodynamicsisascientificlaw,meaningthereisnoscientificevidence

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disprovingit.Therefore,itisimpossibletohavegathereddatatodisproveitsworkingsand
presence.

CONCLUSION
Theuniverseisabigplace,andweonEarthmayseeminsignificantinthegrandscheme
ofthings.However,wemakeadifference,andbyreducingthedifferencewemake,wecan
delaytheinevitableendofouruniverse.

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