Sunday 2 May 2010

Science, but like a story

I found this beautiful description of the Second Law of Thermodynamics - you really need this, don't you?

Disorder



"If you watched a film forwards and backwards, you would almost certainly be able to tell which way was which because of the way things happen. The film is reversible.

But some things are not,

A pendulum will gradually lose energy and come to a stop, but it doesn't pick up energy spontaneously.

An ice cube melts to form a puddle, but a puddle never spontaneously transforms itself into an ice cube.

A glass falling off a table might shatter when it hits the ground, but the pieces will never spontaneously jump back together to form the glass again.

Many things are irreversible, and any irreversible process increases the level of disorder.

One of the most important implications is that this shows which way time goes. Time naturally flows in a way that increases the disorder of things."

And there is more



"There is a strong connection between probability and disorder.

This applies to tossing coins! If you toss four pennies, the likelihood that all four will land heads up is relatively small.

It is six times more likely that you'll get two heads and two tails.

Two heads plus two tails is the most likely, it shows the most disorder.

Four heads is less likely, and has the most order.

If you tossed more coins, it would be even less likely that they'd all land heads up, and even more likely that you'd end up with close to the same number of heads as tails."

Such is life.


No comments: