Introduction
Last Time: Conservation Laws
- The most useful conclusions without solving equations!
- Conservation of momentum: Follows from Newton’s third law. (Chapt. 2 in March)
- Conservation of energy: The most important and useful law. (Chapt. 5 in March, Chapter 1 of Lightman)
- MORE important than Newton’s Equations! - still valid in modern physics even though Newton’s laws are not !
- Heat – internal energy – important in establishing the law as “The first law of thermodynamics”
Today: The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics & Entropy
- The second law states that entropy always increases!
- What is entropy? (Chapt. 2 in Lightman)
- Why is it so important in philospohical arguments? From the nature of time to evolution to ……