3 ms·
Thanks, you're answering my question. It's not a random distribution - it's separate substances (butter separate from flour separate from egg), so their order i
by avmich 8y ago
Thanks, you're answering my question. It's not a random distribution - it's separate substances (butter separate from flour separate from egg), so their order is actually higher. Then I agree - it's strange the author goes for the dough.
- kgwgk 8y agoI don’t understand her point either. And for number 3, entropy for a single particle (as far as such a thing can be defined) is quite different from entropy for a macroscopic system. I’m not sure it makes sense to say that particles decay “to reach a state of highest entropy”.
- stan_rogers 8y agoI think that's meant to be an illustration of the naïve tendency to think of something purposeful - an intended state - as being more ordered than something broken or scattered. A dough is a thing you made for a reason, a mess on the floor is just a mess on the floor. Don't take it as a physicist thinking in physical terms, but as the immediate impression of an ordinary person in ordinary circumstances - you need to reflect and understand to see the truth.
- cygx 8y agoNot only that: Think about a canvas with some random splatters of paint, compared to a canvas uniformly coloured with a homogeneous mixture of that paint. What's more 'orderly'?