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The law of entropy increase, a seemingly distant but ubiquitous concept, not only understands the mystery of physics, but also profoundly holds the intertwining of the fate of human beings and the universe.
From the microscopic atomic motion to the macroscopic social evolution, this concept runs through everything we know. Let's dive deeper into the fascinating mysteries of the law of entropy.
Entropy was first proposed by Clausius in 1854. He employs symbols"s"to express entropy, by increments"ds"Indicates the change in entropy.
He found the value of the heat change in a system as it changes from one state to another"dq"and temperature change values"t"ratio,It is the value of the change in entropy"ds", which can be expressed as ds=dq t.
This formula may seem simple, but it has an important prerequisiteThat is, the process of change must be reversible. That is, the system can return to its original state at any time without any loss or increase in energy.
However, in the real world, the reversible process is an ideal situation that is practically difficult to achieve. Factors such as friction, resistance, noise, etc., will make the change of the system irreversible, and the system cannot return to its original state, resulting in a loss or increase in energy or information.
These losses or gains are entropy**, and they increase the entropy of the system, i.e., the system becomes more disordered or chaotic. Clausius expressed this phenomenon in terms of an inequality, ds dq t.
This inequality is an expression of the second law of thermodynamics, which tells us that entropy will only get bigger, which means that everything will only go in a more chaotic directionThis is the principle of entropy increase.
Clausius's definition, while inspiring, is based on classical thermodynamics and does not take into account the microstructure and state of the system. Subsequently, Boltzmann came up with a more profound definition in 1877.
He used statistical methods to relate entropy to the microstate of a system, and found that the entropy of a system is actually the logarithm of the number of microstates of the system. The microstate includes information such as the position and velocity of each microscopic particle in the system, which determines the macroscopic properties of the system, such as temperature, pressure, and volume.
There are several possibilities for the microscopic state of a system, such as air molecules in a roomThey can be evenly distributed throughout the room, clustered on one side of the room, or randomly scattered throughout the room.
These are all different microscopic states. Boltzmann's definition tells us that the more data that can be observed, the more chaotic the system becomes, and vice versa.
The concept of entropy not only plays an important role in physicsIt is also widely used in chemistry, biology, informatics and sociology.
It reflects the degree of disorder or chaos of the system and also indicates the likelihood or probability of the system. Entropy determines the irreversibility of nature and affects the development of human society. It is a concept that deserves to be deeply explored, helping us to understand the world more deeply while stimulating our thinking.
In physics, for example, time does not have a specific directionRather, it is a parameter used to measure the order in which events occur. However, we often feel that time flows in one direction, which is related to entropy.
Entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system, which determines the irreversibility of nature. Most of the phenomena we see are irreversible, such as water flowing from high to low, hot water cooling, broken eggs, etcThese are the processes of entropy increase, that is, the system moves from order to disorder.
Opposite phenomena, such as water flowing from low to high, cold water becoming hot, broken eggs recovering, etcIt is the process of entropy reduction, from disorder to order.
Therefore, we consider the direction of entropy increase as the direction of time, i.e., the direction of the future. This is the so-called arrow of time, which etchs the impression in our minds that time is constantly passing.
Information is used to eliminate uncertainty. In English, "information" and "intelligence" are the same word, and we know that the role of intelligence is to eliminate uncertainty. So, how do you measure the value of information?
There is a formula that can be used:Informative = Uncertainty of the system before the introduction of information - Uncertainty of the system after the introduction of information. willThe uncertainty on the right side of the equation is expressed in terms of entropy, which leads to the concept of information entropy.
Information entropy is a measure of the uncertainty or amount of information in a system, proposed by Shannon in 1948. He used statistical methods to relate information entropy to the microstate of the system, and found that the information entropy of the system can also be calculated by Boltzmann's method.
The greater the information entropy, the greater the uncertainty or amount of information in the system; The smaller the information entropy, the less uncertainty or the amount of information in the system.
Life is an amazing phenomenon that seems to contradict the law of entropy increase. A living organism is a highly ordered system that is able to obtain energy and matter from its environment, maintain its own structure and function, and is able to reproduce and evolve into more complex life forms.
How do living beings do this? It does not escape the law of entropy increaseInstead, the law of entropy increase is exploited. A living organism is an open system that is able to exchange energy and matter with the outside world, thus maintaining its own negative entropy state, that is, a low entropy state.
Living organisms obtain low-entropy energy and substances from the outside world, such as light energy, chemical energy, water, oxygen, carbohydrates, etc., and then use these low-entropy energy and substances to carry out various life activitiesSuch as respiration, digestion, metabolism, exercise, growth, reproduction, etcAt the same time, it releases high-entropy energy and substances, such as heat, exhaust gas, wastewater, urine, feces, etc.
In this way, the living form realizes the transformation from low entropy to high entropyThat is, the process of entropy increase, which conforms to the second law of thermodynamics. However, the living body does not convert all the low-entropy energy and matter into high-entropy, but retains a part of it, which is used to maintain its own orderly structure and function, resist the tendency of entropy increase, and maintain a negative entropy state, that is, the state of life.
Society is a complex system made up of human beings, which is also affected by entropy. The entropy of a society measures its degree of disorder or chaos, and also reflects the stability and efficiency of the society.
The greater the entropy of society, the more disorder or chaos there becomes; The less entropy a society has, the more orderly or neat it is. The entropy of a society is determined by structure and function, which includes population, family, group, class, institution, etc., while function refers to the role and contribution of each part to the whole, such as maintaining stability, meeting needs, promoting development, etc.
The entropy of a society reflects its degree of disorder or chaos, and also indicates the likelihood or probability of the society. This determines the irreversibility of society and affects the direction of social development.
No matter where we are, we are inseparable from the law of entropy increase. This ancient and eternal law allows us to constantly think, explore, and innovate to understand the universe and ourselves with a deeper understanding.
Behind the increase in entropy, there are endless possibilities, and it also raises new questions for scientists, making us full of awe of the mysteries of the natural world.
It is in this process of constant deduction thatWe are deeply aware of the power of the law of entropy increase, which is both a compass for scienceIt is also an important way for us to understand the world.
In the future, we may have a deeper understanding of the law of entropy increase, and this profound law will continue to guide our thinking about the universe and the fate of mankind.
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