2020-02-01

The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, toddler versions

Anyone who has taken more than a casual attempt at learning thermodynamics will have noticed that the 2nd Law can be (and is) stated in many different ways. By my count there are at least six conventional statements built on several different foundations
  1.  The performance of heat engines or refrigerators
  2.  The natural direction of heat flow (arguably equivalent to item 1, but it may not be obvious at first)
  3. Classical concepts of entropy
  4. Statistical (and even information theoretical) concepts of entropy.

Toddler versions

My daughter keeps encountering phenomena which to my professorial eye look like physics teaching moments. To her they just represent disasters.

In any case, I'd like to codify some of the toddler statements of the 2nd Law:
  • You can't put your banana back together again,
  • You can't separate your play dough colors after you've mixed them.
(And yes, I recognize that as stated these are incomplete. She's two.)

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