The Beauty of Disorder: Brian Cox Explains Entropy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 พ.ค. 2023
- Physicist Brian Cox uses the example of a sand castle and a sand pile to explain the concept of entropy. Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness of a system.
Cox explains that a sand castle is an ordered structure because the sand grains are arranged in a specific pattern to form the castle. On the other hand, a sand pile is a disordered structure because the sand grains are randomly arranged.
As time passes, the sand castle will eventually crumble and become a sand pile, increasing its entropy. This is because the forces of nature, such as wind and erosion, cause the sand grains to become disordered over time. The increase in entropy is a natural process that occurs in all systems, and it is related to the second law of thermodynamics.
Therefore, the sand castle and sand pile example illustrates how entropy increases over time in a closed system, resulting in a decrease in order and an increase in disorder.
I didn't realise - until today - that my Housework has been in a state of High Entropy! No matter how much you move stuff around - it Retains The Beauty of Disorder! Thank you Brian. I thought it was all about me. It's not! It's just the way the Universe is structured! Phew!
Entropy is the 😈 devil. I've been fighting him my entire life, but at least I know he is the orchestrator of his own demise.
Never heard the word "Entropy" in my life but now I've heard it and understood what it is. Thank you
Ive seen this episode and Cox also states that according to the laws of entropy, it is not impossible for the sand castle to be blown away in the wind and perfectly rebuilt in another place. But it would take a while.
I remember when for the first time, I watched this documentary. This clip is from “Wonders of Universe”. Brian Cox did three documentaries. First, “Wonders of Solar System”, second “Wonders of Universe”, and third “Wonders of life”. I would recommend that you watch all three documentaries. All three are my favourites.
@@Explainify.Science where to watch these?
It’s available on Prime Video. In some countries, it’s available on TH-cam, but not for free. If you search the name in TH-cam, you can buy the documentary.
Wild stuff. huh? I think I know what that means. The exact same sand grains, that built the Castle, were blown by the wind on a beach in England, and will eventually, become another sand castle in Fiji? I think you meant your last sentence to be an understatement . It certainly was! Haha. Someone once said... an infinite number of monkeys, with an infinite number of typewriters, over an infinite amount of time, would eventually write King Lear! I interpret that as, they would accidentally, write every book that has ever been written! According to Stephen Hawking... there could be an infinite number of universes, where everything is possible. Mind boggling!
@@Explainify.Sciencethank you very much for that valuable info. I'm sure they're excellent. I'll check it out.
Entropy is just statistics at the end: What we typically call "order", are states of matter with low probability and what we typically call "chaos" are states with higher probability. And of course systems of matter that are left to change randomly will most go towards that the more probable state: "chaos". Nonetheless, at least in theory also an unprobable state, with higher order might be realized at some point, it just super unlikely and will not exist too long.
Best explanation of entropy that I've heard
Thanks Brian. I think I understood that.
And hearing it like this, it might feel like there's some purpose behind it. But there's not - it's only the natural events of things.
Yep. I'm waiting for a thumper to say this proves a creator
What is natural? What defines it?
That flag was a cherry on top of the explanation
Entropy is a tricky concept to convey. I held Marco’s warm hand, mine was cold, he is eight, he understood that our hands would exchange energy until equilibrium , further temperature increase is not possible without adding an external source. Then I showed him a lemon and a garlic, which were mostly made from the entropy of the sun, entropy is life, the universe will be out of entropy in a thousand years or so, fun fact.
I explained this to my teacher in the sandpit at kindergarten. She gave me a juice box an told me to sit in the corner with a pointy hat.
Awesome and Amazing.
Sack the flag maker. Its upside-down.
Good explanation under stand
even with university physics…..ive never understood entropy. 2 min with cox n i understand
Holy fuck I used to watch this getting dressed for school back in like 2010
Also something with low entropy will naturally progress to a state of high entropy. Because that sand castle wants to become a pile over time. It’s just a more natural state.
A book by Heinz Pagel called Perfect Symmetry claims the early universe of Chaos was perfect symmetry. At symmetry breaking after 300,000 years the perfect symmetry of chaos was broken. Differences appeared. Asymmetry however is like we all exist. Our right and left hemispheres are assymetric.
According to what I learned , from an astrophysicist or quantum physicist,.. at the precise moment of the big bang, they think there were variations, imperfection in its shape, or- asymmetry. And, as it expanded, it did so in an asymmetrical way. That's the reason why Galaxy clusters are shaped the way they are. All orbits, from the stars and planets, to subatomic particles are elliptical. Nothing in the universe is perfect. With the possible exception of God.
@@markmills7937
The hot chaotic plasma was defined as perfect symmetry by some. One can argue all day about symmetry. Read about the Madam Wu experiment. She thought an electron is the mirror of an electron. Why? Because Wheeler and Feynman said the positron is the electron going backward not in spacetime but just in time. They violated the spacetime unity and everything has been screwed up ever since.
@danmiller4725 thanks for your response . your first sentence makes no sense to me. Twice. You can't have chaotic symmetry. Chaos means disorder. That's either an oxymoron , a contradiction in terms, or a paradox. WTF. Cosmology is full of paradoxes. I understand that subject pretty well. The definition of paradox is.. Something that can't possibly be true, yet it is. That always blew my mind. To say, hot plasma, is redundant. It must be at least 11000 degrees Fahrenheit. You sound very knowledgeable in quantum physics or quantum mechanics. I admit, I don't know much of it. I know the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Also, how can a particle disappear from one location, and instantly reappear in another location, without ever passing through the space in between?
@@markmills7937
I do remember the book by Pagels. Perfect Symmetry he said is chaos. I lost the book but remember it well. At 300,000 years that perfect symmetry was broken when some imbalances appeared. By the way Pagels died falling off a mountain and his wife Elaine taught theology at Princeton and published the Gnostic Gospels. But not the whole thing which is still a mystery..
@@markmills7937
Of course you can have chaotic symmetry! All you need is a mirror in which to observe both a chaotic system and its reflection.
So would the big bang be low entropy and were moving towards high entropy? Is that what time is?
When my kid makes a mess I always say, "The universe is dying! Stop increasing the entropy of the world."
My intuitive way would be the other way round: High entropy for a highly ordered state and low entropy for a disordered pile of all things.
But well, it's defined the other way round: Many ways to change the arrangement and it still is what it is: Something in a high entropy state.
Think of entropy as chaos. High chaos: high entropy.
@@AJPemberton yes, that's it.
Sooo my collection of empty budweiser cans has high entropy?
So what you're really saying is we can lower entropy if we are able to harness some sort of energy?
why would u want to
Now let me create some order in the universe *colonises the beach*
I lost it when he put the british flag on that sand castle 😂
My takeaway from this video is that all british folks keep a little flag in their pocket in case they need to claim some land in a pinch
😀
but there's just as many ways of ordering sand in a sand castle than in a simple pile so the amount of permutations is not how you can evaluate a level of entropy
You can build multiple castles with the same grains of sand. But you have to destroy the current castle to put the sand back in the bucket. Once you do, you now have a completely different castle, not the same one.
The entropy is measured, or considered, for each individual castle.
thank you for your answer. I'm trying to undertand how they measure an entropy level and what was said made little sense to me. And I thought the whole point of this was that it did not matter what grain went where but only the end result aka all castles of the same form are the same. @@djaa7
@@schloops8473 the castles have the same form but are different castles. Not the original castle for which you considered entropy. If you could manage moving grains of sand in the castle without destroying it, that would be high entropy.
But you can't take grains of sand from the middle and replace them with grains from the outside without the castle collapsing. Maybe you could take some exterior and replace it with other exterior parts. Or a corner at a time. But the original castle can't be completely destroyed to make a new one. That's why it has low entropy.
but you can remake the sandcastle as often as you like so it would be the same?!
No. It would be the same materials, but a different castle. When he sloshed around the sand pile, the pile was still there. But you can't slosh around the castle, or it breaks.
Entropy is considered for each individual castle. Once you completely destroy it and put the sand back in the bucket, the castle no longer exists, and thus no entropy can ever be considered again for it.
For example, if you could take a brick out of a wall, and switch it with another brick, there would temporarily be two holes. But you would still see the wall. The wall is still there. It's tangible.
But if you take the entire wall down, there is no longer a wall. Building it back up, would be a different wall. In the same spot, but now a new wall.
👍👍😊
Entropy in the background.
World renowned physicist playing in the sand.
And that UK flag. 😂😂😂
He is a clever chap, but he doesn't know that when he put the flag in the sandcastle it was upside down.
Yes, it was! Who made those crappy flags?
{:o:O:}
He didn't make the flag dude
when I make my bed every morning : universe entropy *stink*
a marginal way less entropy in the sand castile.
maybe next to none,comparatively.
the sand can be rearranged heaps of ways in the bucket.v
He brought a flag!
I thought entropy was a thermodynamic principle
Maybe that doesn't matter
If i
What a beautiful explanatipn
Interresting how he had to actually create a sand castle. I thought he was going to show us how one could form by itself. Really dissappointed.
ONE GUY USED TO SAY BILLIONS NOW HE SAYS TRILLIONS WHAT NEXT?
QUADRILLIONS
Algorithm bop
I thought he was Justin bieber
5th dimensional version of Bieber.
I suspect the sand castle has the same entropy as the same amount of sand in a pile. The universe doesn’t know the difference.
If he sticks to his first answer the form of the pile doesn't matter.
The British empire being the end of chaos, is what we must remember
Shaggy
Will this guy ever get a haircut 😂
Order in the universe is British claims your shit apparently.
I hope this was presented this way for a child's school video because otherwise it was a clever adult speaking to other adults like they are idiots and he felt he needed a bucket and spade to explain what entropy means.
Yet there are people still not getting it
The Union Jack ruined the lesson
Would we take him seriously if he sounded like Joe Dirt?
Nonsense, Brian.
First he is constraing aspecific boundary which can only be by intelligent cause and allowing all possible arrangements which will be permutation and combination will happen confusing and merging it with a general boundary where a specific arrangement which is useful by law of universe are rare he told time give everything but he forgets actually time is enemy of order particle take all possible state with time and entropy of a system increase rather decrease. He mean to say if we allow enough time by law of thermodynamics a. Cool water will start suddenly boilimg😅😅😅😅😅
Illogical fool.brain😅😅
Stop! Just stop Gramma.
I don't like this description at all.