3 ms·
In this situation I think of entropy as “lowest energy state”. The oil and water have different densities, and are under the same force of gravity. Any higher
by cobbzilla 7y ago
In this situation I think of entropy as “lowest energy state”.
The oil and water have different densities, and are under the same force of gravity.
Any higher-density substance above a lower-density substance will have potential energy, that eventually must dissipate into thermal energy as the higher-density molecules descend and perturb other molecules.
- kgwgk 7y agoWhy don’t the higher density molecules of water descend in a bottle of wine? You don’t have the molecules of ethanol floating on top, do you? (Hint: “higher-density molecules” doesn't mean anything.)