Expanding on a previously posted question and answers:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071231134856AAMQdEo&r=w
It is possible to set up a laboratory device that will vibrate a container which has a mix of sand, pepple, and gravel, with control over the amplitude of the vibration. As the container is vibrated continuously, if the amplitude is large, the mix will tend to become uniform. Yet if the amplitude is made small, the mix will tend to sort out, with the gravel migrating towards the top while the sand filters towards the bottom. By varying the amplitude, even as the vibration is nonstop, the mix can be sorted or blended. How is this explained in terms of entropy which is supposed to be always rising as per 2nd Law of Thermodynamics?
2007-12-31
18:24:21
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4 answers
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asked by
Scythian1950
7
in
Physics