The Three Laws of Thermodynamics

[MorGrendel]

http://www.kids.esdb.bg/basic_principles.html

The Three Laws of Thermodynamics
- The first law of thermodynamics, also called conservation of energy, states that the total amount of energy in the universe is constant. This means that all of the energy has to end up somewhere, either in the original form or in a different from. We can use this knowledge to determine the amount of energy in a system, the amount lost as waste heat, and the efficiency of the system.

-The second law of thermodynamics states that the disorder in the universe always increases. After cleaning your room, it always has a tendency to become messy again. This is a result of the second law. As the disorder in the universe increases, the energy is transformed into less usable forms. Thus, the efficiency of any process will always be less than 100%.

- The third law of thermodynamics tells us that all molecular movement stops at a temperature we call absolute zero, or 0 Kelvin (-273oC). Since temperature is a measure of molecular movement, there can be no temperature lower than absolute zero. At this temperature, a perfect crystal has no disorder.
When put together, these laws state that a concentrated energy supply must be used to accomplish useful work.

How do these pertain to us?

The first law says energy is never lost, only converted into other forms. I think this is true for groups of people too. Today, our energies may be focused on stick-fighting, but tomorrow it might be Warhammer or Airsoft. The more directions that energy is spread, the less there is for any single direction. Energy is not tangible; it is best described as work, or how much work one can get from a single unit of energy. However, I believe more work equals more tangible things, and when we see progress from our work, there is a tendency for more energy to flow that direction. Some of it will be wasted, some will cause heat, but those are just byproducts of the system. Work is described as force over distance; and as we reach this fifteenth year, we can see how far our force has come and envision how much farther our force will take us.

The second law is entropy. Things change, divide, and fall apart. This is life. Do not allude yourself, there is no such thing as a perfect system, and nothing lasts forever. One must constantly work to maintain what they have or one will end up with a less-functional and less-effective facsimile of what they had, a façade and little more. It is also worth mentioning that any system is always under stress to change, often times by unseen outside forces. As you cannot control outside forces, you cannot control change, you can only hope to guide it in a positive direction. Entropy is often used to describe the breakdown of a signal, which I find ironic, as communication seem to only way to stop entropy. Well, that and the third law.

The third law states that entropy only stops when absolutely frozen. I’ll choose to interpret this as a moment devoid of energy; be it the moment before the big bang or the instant before an idea is articulated. It manifests as a snapshot, a memory, and nothing more. We cannot stop time, we cannot live frozen. Though it is often enjoyable to look back at snapshots, they are not alive and real. There is only the future, and one cannot be beholden to the past. As we begin this 15th year, we can enjoy what we have made, but we must not rest on our laurels and past greatnesses. Ask yourself, am I working towards something or am I holding on to a moment frozen in time?