entropy only applies to a closed system an individual life form takes in energy from outside itself.
2006-07-10 05:07:02
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answer #1
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answered by oldhippypaul 6
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As oldhippypaul pointed out, individual life forms are not isolated systems. Below are some excerpts from Wikipedia that will explain things much better than I can.
Second Law of Thermodynamics:
The entropy of an isolated system not at equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value.
Self-organization vs. entropy:
The idea of self-organization challenges an earlier paradigm of ever-decreasing order which was based on a philosophical generalization from the second law of thermodynamics in statistical thermodynamics where entropy is envisioned as a measure of the statistical "disorder" at a microstate level. However, at the microscopic or local level, the two need not be in contradiction: it is possible for a system to reduce its entropy by transferring it to its environment.
In open systems, it is the flow of matter and energy through the system that allows the system to self-organize, and to exchange entropy with the environment. This is the basis of the theory of dissipative structures. Ilya Prigogine noted that self-organization can only occur far away from thermodynamic equilibrium.
It would appear that, since isolated systems cannot decrease their entropy, only open systems can exhibit self-organization. However, such a system can gain macroscopic order while increasing its overall entropy. Specifically, a few of the system's macroscopic degrees of freedom can become more ordered at the expense of microscopic disorder.
In many cases of biological self-assembly, for instance metabolism, the increasing organization of large molecules is more than compensated for by the increasing entropy of small molecules, especially water. At the level of a whole organism and over longer time scales, though, biological systems are open systems feeding from the environment and dumping waste into it.
2006-07-10 15:28:26
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answer #2
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answered by thorleach3 1
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they don't
and it has nothing to do with energy taken from outside
life forms on earth use entropy from the sun
in other words, energy arrives from the sun in the form of a small number of very energetic photons (low entropy)
life uses this energy, and it is ultimately lost through radiation as a large number of much less energetic thermal photons (higher entropy)
remember, energy is never lost - what changes is entropy
2006-07-10 12:30:16
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answer #3
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answered by Epidavros 4
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Cause if they don't, they die. Equilibrium is a bad thing when it comes to livings. Think about it, without going against entropy how would we store energy? If we didn't have a high number of protons in our stomachs, that would rather diffuse nicely througout the environment, how would we digest food?
2006-07-10 12:09:22
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answer #4
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answered by Nick N 3
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life is all about bringing order out of chaos. that's what we do, it's our jobs. a bigger question to ponder is when/where will/does this enthalpy stop occuring? does it ever stop? what will our universe look like when/if it does?
2006-07-10 16:26:35
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answer #5
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answered by harey_one 1
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