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Originally Posted by harmonygirl Sinjin, I am not sure a bike 'saves' energy. I like this thread, I suspect I will understand entropy a little better for having viewed it. Another question: is entropy linked to the definition of the system of energy (if not, how can you go outside the system)? |
I think entropy is linked to the energy in a system when that system is closed. For instance, I think a classic example is a can of soda. When you open it and it fizzes, gas is released that spreads out and disperses into the air, becoming both disordered and useless, and therefore the entropy of the closed system (which only includes the can of soda and the air) has increased. To introduce an outside energy source would be to bring in some sort of machine that can collect all the dispersed gas molecules, gather them up, and put them back into the can, converting them into something useful and organized and reversing entropy. I think for most things in the universe there can always be an "outside" force, for example the sun providing energy and organization to life, but the universe as a whole is a closed system and any outside force would be outside the the universe.