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Evolution and Thermodynamics
Name: Mike Spanel
Status: N/a
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Around 1993
Question:
My friend stated that the first and second laws of thermodynamics
contradict the theory of evolution. Also what are stated in the first and
second laws of thermodynamics?
Replies:
Your friend is wrong, but he /she is in good company. A lot of
people misunderstand thermodynamics and think that they contradict the theory
of evolution. Here are some basic definitions: The First Law: Heat put into
a system + work done on a system = increase in internal energy of the system,
or dQ + dW = dU. This is just conservation of energy; if you take a system
and heat it, and do work on it, you will increase its internal energy. The
Second Law: If a system is changed by doing work on it or by heating/cooling
it, the entropy will either increase or stay the same. Notice that in the
above definitions, I have not yet said what a "system" is. The main thing to
remember is that although the total entropy of a system must increase or stay
the same, local fluctuations can be positive or negative. For example, by
cooling water, we can make ice. Water, a liquid, has a higher entropy than
ice, a solid. So by freezing water we DECREASE the water's entropy.
Therefore, it is possible to raise or lower the entropy of a system, as long
as it is an OPEN system (one that can exchange energy with its surroundings).
The earth is an open system, and so is a biological system (like a frog or an
ape). So evolution does NOT violate thermodynamics.
Robert Topper
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Update: June 2012
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