Can the second law of thermodynamics apply to any situation in the universe?

Question

I know that the second law has to do with entropy and the fact that everything in the universe will eventually come to the most disorganized state possible. I have heard people use this law in biology, saying that life on Earth couldn't have begun without some outside force because amino acids wouldn't combine to become more complex, since this goes against the natural entropic properties of the universe. Can anyone shed some light on the subject? If possible, please explain more on the second law.

Answer 1

There are many equivalent formulations of the second law. In a situation like the earth, where there is heat (in the form of light) coming into the system, the relevant quantity is not entropy, it is Gibbs free energy. Essentially, Gibbs free energy is a way of accounting for the entropy change in the rest of the universe by looking inside the system. This depends on temperature as well as the energy change and the entropy change in the system. For example, ice will spontaneously freeze if it gets cold enough. This is a reaction where 'order' increases, but the energy released from freezing counteracts that increase.

For the case of biological systems, the energy coming from the sun makes it so that a great deal of entropy decrease can occur within the system and still have a net increase everywhere. In fact, every biological reaction occurs in accordance with the second law, if it is correctly understood. Unfortunately, the creationists rarely understand thermodynamics past a very shallow level. In particular, the amount of order produced through evolution is insignificant to the amount of energy coming from outside the earth.

Answer 2

The answers by extton and mathematician are dead on correct. The increase of complexity of life on earth does not violate the Second Law because the earth is not a CLOSED thermodynamic system. It has an external energy source.

The post by Redrum is full of misinformation, and, I would add, downright intellectually dishonest. I won't bother to point out all the errors, but I will point to one thing I find pretty sleazy.

Redrum makes the statement "Even evolutionists admit that the theory of evolution and the second law of thermodynamics are completely incompatible with each other." And as evidence, he provides a quote by Henry M. Morris.

Henry M. Morris was *not* an evolutionist. Precisely the opposite. He was a vehement young-earth creationist, considered the "father of modern creation science."

So please read Redrum's post with that warning in mind.

Answer 3

Yes, the second law of thermodynamics can be applied to pretty much anything, anywhere in the universe.

However, creationists are incorrect when they say that the second law shows that life could not have happened on its own on earth.

This is because the second law does not state that "order in a system always decreases." What it actually says is that "order in a CLOSED system always decreases". A closed system is one in which nothing goes in, and nothing goes out - it's isolated.

Earth is not a closed system - earth is an open system. It has a constant input of energy from the sun. Because of that input of energy, order can increase locally on earth, despite the fact that it is decreasing in the universe as a whole.

Or, you could think of it like this: the increase in entropy due to the sun releasing energy is greater than the decrease in entropy due to life using that energy on earth. Order increases on earth, but not as much as it decreases over all.

Answer 4

The second law of thermodynamics is an axiom of nature regarding the directional flow of heat in relation to work and which accounts for the phenomenon of irreversibility in thermodynamic systems. The most common enunciation of second law of thermodynamics is:
[Heat cannot of itself pass from a colder to a hotter body]

Second law of thermodynamics establishes the possible and impossible energy conversion processes in the following form:
[It is impossible to construct a machine operating in a cycle that produces no other effect than the absorption of thermal energy from a reservoir and the performance of an equal amount of work]
i.e., all received heat can never be converted into work in cyclic processes; part of the heat inevitably transferred to a sink.

The irreversible process occurs naturally only in one direction, will not ever runs backwards. :

Although all natural processes are irreversible, a reversible path is assumed between the initial and the final equilibrium states of the system to calculate the entropy change as defined hereunder:

[ The change in Entropy is equal to the amount of thermal energy transferred along a reversible path ( leading from initial to final equilibrium states, irrespective of the actual path ) devided by the absolute temperature of the system].

The entropy concept has found its place in engineering thermodynamics, but its importance grew tremendously in other fields as well. One of the main results is that:

[Isolated systems tend toward disorder. Entropy is a measure of that disorder] which is another statement of the second law f thermodynamics.
The tendency toward disorder can be seen by considering the molecules of gas in the air in room. They moves haphazardly in all directions, bumping into one another, changing speed upon collision,.

Taking into consideration the amount of the entropy change of the system and its surroundings for any process, the second law of thermodynamics is stated as follows:

[ the entropy of the Universe increases in all processes.].

So there should be a continous stream of energy contiously feeds Universe so that the Entropy of the Universe continously increases. The increase in Entropy can only be through supply from unlimited, unbordered, unmaterialised, everfilled, non-decreasing huge reservoir. That reservoir is nothing but GODNESS .

Hoping that the above shed some light on the second law of thermodynamics, I would like to monitor the following result of the third law of thermodynamics that adresses the Unattainability of Absolute Zero. It states that:
[ At Absolute Zero, Entropy of all materials are equal]
that made it possible to determine Entropy values by applying zero value for Entropy at Absolute Zero. Additionally the third law of thermodynamics strongly supports the concept of the necessity of GOD to initiate the Universe. This idea can be explained if requested.

Answer 5

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

The Second Law of Thermodynamics is best summarized by saying that everything moves toward disorder—or a condition known as entropy. This bears some explanation and we will consider several examples.

Remember that evolutionists teach that everything is constantly evolving into a higher and more complex order. In other words, they believe things continue to get better and better instead of worse and worse.

If water being heated on a stove is at 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and the burner is turned off, the temperature will drop instead of rise. It will move toward colder rather than hotter. If a ball is placed on a hill, it will always roll downhill and not uphill. Energy used to perform any particular task changes from usable energy to unusable in the performing of that task. It will always go from a higher energy level to a lower energy level—where less and less energy is available for use.

When applied to the universe, the second law of thermodynamics indicates that the universe is winding down—moving toward disorder or entropy—not winding up or moving toward more perfect order and structure. In short, the entire universe is winding down!

Even evolutionists admit that the theory of evolution and the second law of thermodynamics are completely incompatible with each other. Consider: “Regarding the second law of thermodynamics (universally accepted scientific law which states that all things left to themselves will tend to run down) or the law of entropy, it is observed, ‘It would hardly be possible to conceive of two more completely opposite principles than this principle of entropy increase and the principle of evolution. Each is precisely the converse of the other. As (Aldous) Huxley defined it, evolution involves a continual increase of order, of organization, of size, of complexity. It seems axiomatic that both cannot possibly be true. But there is no question whatever that the second law of thermodynamics is true’” (Morris, Henry M., The Twilight of Evolution, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1967, p. 35).

Like a top or a yo-yo, the universe must have been “wound up.” Since the universe is constantly winding down, the second law of thermodynamics looms before us in the form of a great question: Who wound it up? The only plausible answer is God!

Answer 6

Like extton said, the key is that the second law is true only for a CLOSED system, one where no energy can enter or exit.

Answer 7

i'd go with xtton, it's a matter of energy exchange after all..

Answer 8

Nerd... no wonder not many people answer your questions. There boring... Hissssssssssssss... Thanks for 2 pointsssssssssssss lol