Dearest Principal,
Might I ask you a question about heat distribution in the universe? You, of course, being a chemistry major must know loads about entropy. It seems to me that the Big Bang had to happen because of some thermodynamic need. That is -- when space-time became the prevailing reality. Now, when entropy becomes complete, will that mean the universal temperature will be absolute zero?
But take a universe (please). One finite in size and in energy. Wouldn’t the end-temperature have to be above absolute zero –unless that finite-sized universe grew in size? Further, might it be the end-temp would always be something above absolute zero unless the universe proved to be infinite in size? Thus, were you to be thermally outside the universe to take its temperature and read the end temp to be, say, 0.0000001Kelvin, you’d know the universe was finite instead of infinite in size. For what freezin’ frigging good it would do ya. All I know is that it would be colder than Hell Fahrenheit outside.
Most people believe right now that they are thermally outside of the universe, by the way. It is called believing in free will. No one I know sees it that way. At least it has not come up in conversation.
...Anyway. You know what worries me about all this? Anytime you talk this shit you look like some kind of a weirdo-crank. Every nut in the world has a take on Einstein, have you noticed? So don’t mind me none, neither.
posted by Principal Quattrano's Toy @ 23:53
10 Comments:
I'm not sure why you're saying the temperature would ultimately stabilize above absolute zero, given a finite universe. There would be nothing to keep it there, and it would continue to fall as atomic motion slowed down, until finally not a single atom was moving, vibration at the nuclear level being the cause of heat.
I can assure you that very few people nowadays have opinions about astrophysics.
You are kidding! Everyone I knew when I was in the nut house had an opinion on astrophysics and cosmology. This is incomprhensible to me. You mean that what I think is common for people to think about is really abnormal? NO WAY! This can't be! You mean they spend their time doing stange rituals on Sunday and believing social control myths? I can't believe this. NO WAY! ... Get outta here! pqt
Not to bore you, but a follow up if I may. What is the difference between motion at the quantum level versus the macroscopic level?
PS: as this blog becomes more complex, you may not find these backwater questions, dearest Principal. That is ok, in the stir --for now. Most things can wait.
---And other readers going through this strange twist of philosophy, physics, and the psychology of the fuct: Please, your comments ARE welcomed. pqt
Motion at the atomic level and motion at the macroscopic (visual) level are completely different. It is motion at the atomic level that is responsible for heat, as the vibration of atoms causes that. As the vibrations in a liquid slow down, the atoms become more closely spaced (except for water, but we can talk about that later if there is interest) and will settle into a structure (exactly which depends on the material under study), finally ceasing to move around, vibrating in situ. They have passed their freezing/melting point and become solid. At absolute zero no vibration occurs. To break free again requires not only enough increase in energy to bring them up to their melting point, but an extra quantity of energy as well. So ice and water can coexist at the freezing point, and it takes an addition or removal of energy to change one to the other.
Add more energy, and the molecules or atoms begin sliding around. They are now liquid. Add more energy again, and they bounce around wildly, not settling. This is gas. Add more energy still and the atoms in the molecules would dissociate from each other, there now being too much energy to keep these atoms in compounds, and the individual atoms would become ions. This is the plasma state. Scientists theorize that the original state of matter after the big bang was yet another even higher energy state, where neutrons, protons, and electrons were so energetic they could not form atoms. Perhaps it was a state so high in energy that quarks did not join to form neutrons or protons. It was many millions of years before, thanks to entropy, the motion of atoms slowed down enough for matter as we know it to form, and only then could celestial bodies come into existence.
A “meaningless heat event” it all seems to me. “Physics is Phun” my science prof would write on the blackboard. But, still, it all seems like temporary, meaningless phun to me. This is why sometimes I find it hard to fit in. How do you fit that kind of thing in when you are at work or getting into something that you feel “passionate” about? Principal, somehow, you are going to have to socialize me. Maybe help me find a meaning to live. Any ideas? Maybe the curve of your ass might do it. Isn’t that what women have done all along to get nihilistic males to conform?
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