physics
2006-11-03 21:18:53 · 6 answers · asked by tinu 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Some people claim that the existence of life violates the 2nd law, and those people use that as a justification for intelligent design or creationism. The emergence of life appears (to them) to be a decrease in entropy. In fact, it's true that the earth's entropy does decrease in time. These people use this fact to say that life violates the 2nd law.
However, those people live in a dark world. The reason why biological life does not violate the second life is because the earth itself is not a closed system. The earth is constantly being bombarded with energy from the sun as light and heat. Plants are able to use that light to break apart the carbon out of the air to build sugars that store that energy (which eventually get used).
Additionally, even without the sun, great amounts of energy within the core of the earth move to the surface. So much energy moves from the core of the earth outward that life could exist (for some time) while the total entropy of the earth would increase.
2006-11-04 00:02:53 · answer #1 · answered by Ted 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The total entropy of any isolated thermodynamic system tends to increase over time, approaching a maximum value. We have to remember that 'Heat' is energy, And as heat is added or influences matter the atomic bonds are excited causing movement. So any amount of heat causes a chain-reaction in the movement of not only atomic bonds but sub-atomic particles.
Nothing overides or violates this principle.
2006-11-04 05:56:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think any 'law' violates 2nd law. There is perpetual machine of second kind that violates 2nd law, but it doesn't really exists and it is just theoretical machine.
2006-11-04 05:30:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Biological systems - living matter. When a biological system (organism) develops (grows), the entropy of the matter it is made of is decreasing instead of increasing. This apparently violates the 2nd principle -which states that entropy always increases.
2006-11-04 07:26:01 · answer #4 · answered by rebel_g 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The 3rd law of thermodynamics violates the 2nd law.
Its states that:
As a system approaches absolute zero of temperature all processes cease and the entropy of the system approaches a minimum value.
2006-11-04 06:56:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
none - if it violates the 2nd law it cannot be a law.
there's no free lunch.
2006-11-04 05:28:31 · answer #6 · answered by peter_lobell 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋