Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is the study of the transfer of heat energy. There are three main laws of thermodynamics, the second being frequently brought into arguments against evolution.
Laws[edit]
First[edit]
In any process, the total energy of the universe remains constant.
Second[edit]
There is no process that, operating in a cycle, produces no other effect than the subtraction of a positive amount of heat from a reservoir and the production of an equal amount of work.
Alternatively:
The entropy of an isolated macroscopic system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium.
Third[edit]
As temperature approaches absolute zero, the entropy of a system approaches a constant.
Alternative descriptions[edit]
The laws of thermodynamics have also been described in a tongue-in-cheek way as:
- You can't win.
- You can't break even.
- And you can't get out of the game.
Alternatively, thermodynamics is understood to give time a direction. [1] Without time going forward, the universe would be a very strange place, where things would spontaneously un-break, un-burn, un-fall, etc.
Apologetics/Counter-apologetics[edit]
Argument for God from the 2nd law[edit]
- Main Article: Argument from the second law of thermodynamics
Creationists sometimes claim that evolution contradicts the second law of thermodynamics. This is usually due to a misunderstanding of what the second law actually says, or else due to the false assumption that the Earth is an isolated (closed) system.
Argument for God from the 1st law[edit]
- Main Article: Argument from conservation of energy
Energy conservation means the total amount of energy in the universe is fixed. Therefore the energy requires an external cause i.e. God.
Argument for a finite age of the universe from the 2nd law[edit]
The amount of usable energy is decreasing. It cannot have been decreasing indefinitely, so the universe had a beginning.
Fine tuning of entropy[edit]
The initial conditions of the universe was low entropy. This requires a cause. Natural processes would violate the second law of thermodynamics. Therefore, God. This is a variant of the fine tuning argument.
- "Only the creator of the second law of thermodynamics could violate the second law of thermodynamics, and create energy in a state of availability in the first place. [2]"
Other[edit]
There is also a rough thermodynamic argument against the existence of an orderly God that could create the universe.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- secondlaw.com explains the second law of thermodynamics.
- 2ndlaw.com fields questions generated by the previous site, including issues with evolution.