Sunday, February 7, 2010

True or false, if a system is not isolated, is it possible to lower entropy by pouring in energy?

true or false, if a system is not isolated, is it possible to lower entropy by pouring in energy?True or false, if a system is not isolated, is it possible to lower entropy by pouring in energy?
Of course. However as the laws of thermodynamics demands, the total entropy of the universe must increase in the process. A simple example of the above.....a crew of workers can create a skyscraper from what was originally raw materials. The skyscraper is a very orderly structure that has less entropy than the raw materials from which it was created had. However you had to expend energy to manufacture the steel and other goods, plus feed the workers, etc etc. Overall entropy of the entire universe will increase.True or false, if a system is not isolated, is it possible to lower entropy by pouring in energy?
For a system not to be isolated and to be open for receiving energy is the same thing.

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