Entropy and the early univesre

[bananan]

Hello,
since entropy in the univesre is always increasing, if we were to go back in time, would the amount of order increase? will there get to be a point where the universe is extremely orderly?

Did the big bang start out as a very orderly object?

 

[Andrew Mason]

Hello,
since entropy in the univesre is always increasing, if we were to go back in time, would the amount of order increase? will there get to be a point where the universe is extremely orderly?

Did the big bang start out as a very orderly object?

Entropy is a measure of how dispersed the energy is. In the pre-big bang, the energy was very concentrated in a very small space so it had very low entropy.

Do not confuse order with entropy. Entropy increases because the most probable result of combining two thermodynamic systems is thermodynamic equilibrium. A system in thermodynamic equilibrium is not more orderly than one that is not. It is simply much more probable.

AM

 

[bananan]

Entropy is a measure of how dispersed the energy is. In the pre-big bang, the energy was very concentrated in a very small space so it had very low entropy.

Do not confuse order with entropy. Entropy increases because the most probable result of combining two thermodynamic systems is thermodynamic equilibrium. A system in thermodynamic equilibrium is not more orderly than one that is not. It is simply much more probable.

AM

ISn't that also true for black holes? I did confuse order with entropy.

 

[masudr]

I blame that on poor popular science, which seems to be hell-bent on associating disorder with entropy, while not highlighting the true definition.