The document discusses the scientific concept of entropy and how it relates to real-world changes over time. Entropy generally refers to the tendency for things to move from a state of order to disorder or for potential energy to decrease and spread out. This is seen when a mug of hot coffee cools as heat flows out of the mug, or when a mug falls and shatters on the floor as its ordered state breaks apart. The document contrasts this with how things might play out differently in a hypothetical world where entropy decreases rather than increases.
2. The Definition of Entropy
• Real world change and dynamics follow the laws of entropy.
– Potential decreases while entropy increases
– Higher entropy suggests more disorder
– Suggests time moves in one direction
– When the mug is in its solid form on the table it has a relatively high
potential in the form of bonds between the molecules.
– Statistical definition- the number of possible microscopic
arrangements that could produce the macroscopic object.
• Thermodynamics
– Entropy also happens with the hot coffee that begins to cool in the
mug after it’s poured. The total energy of the mug decreases as the
heat flows out and entropy increases.
3. A Real World Example
A mug falls off a table and shatters on the floor.
How will this situation play out in the real world and a world
where entropy is reversed?
A world where entropy can decrease
