Eli5: what is entropy?

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Eli5: what is entropy?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The other important part of entropy besides “disorder” is that it can only go up in a closed system. That doesn’t mean it can’t go down, but that going down requires added energy from outside the system.

You don’t become increasingly disordered and fall apart because you aren’t a closed system. You eat food and that energy is used to keep your cells intact and in place. The Earth doesn’t become increasingly disordered because sunlight is constant energy input.

The entire universe doesn’t have outside input, so entropy always increases. The universe is also very big (citation needed), so proceeding towards a state of maximum entropy will take lengths of time that we can math out but can’t really intuitively understand.

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