Maxwell's Demon Possibility?(Entropy)

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the theoretical concept of "Maxwell's Demon," proposed by James Clerk Maxwell, which involves a hypothetical intelligence that can sort gas molecules based on speed, thereby creating a temperature difference between two chambers. This scenario challenges the second law of thermodynamics by suggesting a method to reverse entropy. The conversation also references the Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube, a real-world device that separates hot and cold air through its design and airflow dynamics. Participants express skepticism about the feasibility of such concepts while exploring the implications for thermodynamics.

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StarkyDee
"Maxwell's Demon" Possibility?(Entropy)

About a hundred years ago, James Clerk Maxwell imagined 2 adjacent chambers, each containing gas and both sealed to the outside world. The chambers are also sealed from one another, except for a single gate the size of a gas molecule. Guarding this gate would be an intelligence with one power: the ability to discriminate between fast and slow molecules. It would pass slow molecules in one direction only, fast molecules in the other direction only. The net result would, after a time, be one chamber that contained only slow-moving molecules, next to a chamber that contained only fast-moving molecules. In other words, the chambers would not be the same temperature: One hot and one cold. Should such a "Maxwell Demon" prove possible, its discriminatory intelligence would reverse the apparently irreversible entropy, which inevitably has everything existing at the same low temperature? Any Comments?
 
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Have you ever heard of the ranque-Hilsch vortex tube that separates hot and cold air? It operates simply by virtue of the air flow through the geometry of the device.

Click here for the thermodynamic aspects of the device.
http://engr.smu.edu/me/2131/Thermolab/vortex/vortex.html

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Last edited:
I have thought about such things, and though the consensus is no, I have a half-baked idea oddly enough also involving a vortex that seems like it would decrease entropy. As it is half-baked I don't care to share it, but if you visit here often I will PM you with the idea, if it proves interesting.
 

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