Abiogenesis and Entropy

One of the most important topics in science is the origin of life  it just as important in religion and philosophy. This topic gets to the hart of what and who we are, meaning that getting the correct answer is important. 

From a religious perspective and in particular the monotheistic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, God created life in general as well as man kind.  Looking at it from a naturalistic - atheistic perspective life is assumed to have arisen by totally natural process in what is called abiogenesis.



A scientific look at both possibilities should tell us which view is the correct view of the origin of life. There exists a principle of thermodynamics that tells us how a given manner of applying energy to a system affects that system’s entropy. This concept can be stated in two simple statements:

If energy is applied to a system in a manner more ordered than that system’s degree of order then it increases the system’s order decreasing the entropy of that system. 

If energy is applied to a system in a manner more disordered than that system’s degree of disorder then it increases the system’s disorder increasing the entropy of that system.

The above video shows that when this principle is applied to the problem of the origin of life the results show that naturalistic abiogenesis is a thermodynamic impossibility.

On Order from Disorder

Order and Disorder

Statistical Entropy

Statistical Entropy:The application of probability theory to the  principle of entropy in thermodynamicis. This shows entropy ito be a measure of the amount of disorder in a system. The mathematical relationship is as follows.  

1. The number of equivalent microstates (number of possible ways a given condition to occur) is denoted as W.
2. Entropy is denoted as S
3. k is the Boltzmann Constant = 1.38 X 10^-23 JL^-1

S = k ln W

The larger W is the more disordered the system and the larger a system’s entropy.

The smaller W is the more ordered the system is the more disordered it is and the smaller a system’s entropy.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

The Second Law of Thermodynamics indicates that entropy tends to increase and because entropy is related to disorder, it also indicates that a system’s degree of disorder tends to increase. The only way to decrease a system’s entropy and increase its order is for work to be performed on the system. Now the Second Law of thermodynamics shows that energy applied a system can reduce its entropy but it does not show how the manner in which energy is applied affects entropy that is it does not show the deference between construction work and a bomb. Getting order from disorder requires an additional principle, a principle that relates entropy and energy.

Order from Disorder

This additional principle is based on the relationship between the degree of order or disorder with which energy is applied to a system and the degree of order or disorder that it produces in that system.

The result is that energy applied to a system in a manner more ordered than that system’s degree of order increases the system’s order and decreases its entropy. On the other hand energy applied to a system in a manner more disordered than that system’s degree of disorder increases the system’s disorder and increases its entropy. The mathematical relationship is as follows.

1. .Number of equivalent microstates of the applied energy is W_e .
2. Number of initial equivalent microstates of the system is W_s .
3. The change in entropy is denoted as DS.
4. k is the Boltzmann Constant = 1.38 X 10^-23 JL^-1.

This shows the general direction that applying energy to a system will move the entropy of that system as well as the maximum change in the systems entropy but the actual change in entropy results from the amount of energy actually applied to the system .

Reduced to it simplest form this principle can be described in two statements:

1. The general application of energy to a system in a manner more random than that system will increase the entropy of that system.
2. The general application of energy to a system in a manner less random than that system will decrease the entropy of that system.

This shows the difference between construction work and a bomb because construction work is less random than that of the raw material and so it decreases its entropy. By contrast a bomb explosion is more random than that of the raw material so it decreases its entropy.

Looking at Statistical Entropy

Statistical Entropy is probability theory applied to the principle of entropy showing it to be a measurement of the disorder in a system. It is based mainly on the probability of the positions of molecules explaining the tendency; seen in the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics; of entropy to increase. This tendency is because configurations with high entropy are more probable than configurations of low entropy.

The biggest problem with entropy is its tendency to increase. So understanding how to decrease entropy is vary important. The most common answer is adding energy to the system as if that is all that is needed to decrease its entropy.  But such an answer is overly simplistic since when energy is applied to a system the way it affects the system’s entropy depends on the way the energy is applied to the system. Consider the difference between construction work and a bomb. Construction work will decrease the entropy of a building under construction. One the other hand a bomb with the same amount of energy and on the same site will inevitably increase the site’s entropy.

This shows that the manner by which energy is applied to a system affects how that energy changes that system’s entropy. What is needed is a general principle that describes this difference and statistical entropy shows exactly how and when entropy can be decreased it shows how to produce order from disorder.

Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

The zeroth law of thermodynamics says that two objects in thermal equilibrium with a third object re also in equilibrium with each other.

The zeroth law of thermodynamics is called the zeroth law and not the fourth law because it is more fundamental than the first law but it was discovered after the other three. 

Imagine having three interconnected beakers of water so that the water levels in all three are the same height. They are interconnected so that any change in one beaker gets balanced out so all three beakers end up ay the same level.

The reason why this occurs is that heat can flow between all three objects so that if one gets out of equilibrium the others supply heat to it or  removed heat from it there by  restoring equilibrium to all three.

The zeroth law is a rather simple concept and it is the most fundamental of the Laws of Thermodynamics.

3rd Law of Thermodynamics

3rd Law of Thermodynamics: As the temperature of a substance approaches absolute zero it’s entropy approaches zero.

Since heat is a result of the molecules motion of an object and this motion causes those molecules to move around and spread out it causes a condition of high entropy.

As an object cools the object molecules slow down so that the forces between molecules can organize them. At absolute zero all of the heat has removed and the molecules have stop moving. The forces between molecules now fully organize the molecules resulting in zero entropy.

Absolute Zero is the lowest limit possible on temperature is defined as 0 Kelvin which is -273.15 ^oC or -459.67 ^oF.

The lowest temperature actually reached was achieved by MIT researchers in 2003. That temperature is 45 nK which is 45 ten billionth of a ^oC above absolute zero.

In practical application, while absolute zero is the lowest limit on temperature it is not actually achievable. You can get infinitely close but not exactly at absolute zero. You just cant get rid of that last bit of heat.

The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics

 

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states the following:

• The entropy in a closed system always increases.
• The amount of unusable energy in a closed system increases.
• It is impossible to turn all of the heat put into a system into work so that you can’t make a 100% efficient engine.

The 2^nd law of Thermodynamics is based on the fact that heat will only spontaneously flow from a hot object to a colder object but it never will spontaneously flow from a cold object to  a hot object.

Whenever heat is used to do work a potion of the heat always goes to the colder location. This wasted heat is called entropy. Simply put you can never turn all of the heat into work and percentage of the heat converted in to work it the engines efficiency.  

Now applying work to a system can forced heat to go from a cold object to a hot object, which also reduces entropy, this shows that work can reduce entropy. This process is the basic theory behind air conditioners, refrigerators, and heat pumps.

Entropy is the measure of a system's thermal energy unavailable for conversion into mechanical work. It is also a measure of the equivalent states or multiplicity of a system and there by a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system.

In Classical Thermodynamics entropy is mathematically defined as dS = dQ/T.

These results in the change in entropy as: DS = Q/T.

• S = entropy
• Q = Heat energy
• T = Temperature

In statically thermodynamics entropy is mathematically defined as S = k ln W.

This results in the change in entropy as: DS = k ln W₂ / W_1.

•  S = entropy
•  k = Boltzmann constant
•  W = the multiplicity of a system.

Entropy and Disorder

The relationship between entropy and disorder is shpwn through the multiplicity of a system which is denoted by W. The multiplicity of disordered states (W_d) is many orders of magnitude grester than the multiplicity of ordered states (W_o) such that W_d >> W_o  this means they S_d >> S_o.

Since 2nd Law of Thermodynamics shows entropy tends to increase it also shows that the degree of disorder of a systems tends to increases. The only way to increase a system’s order; decreasing entropy; is for work to be performed on the system.

Abiogenesis and 2nd Law

The spontaneous process of life forming from non life by naturalistic means is called Abiogenesis. Now living things are the most ordered and complex systems that are known to exist, In fact even the simplest known living cell is infinitely more organized and complex than the most organized non-living chemical systems known to exist.

As a result the entropy of a living cell is many orders of magnitude lower than the entropy of the same amount non-living chemicals. This means that for abiogenesis to occur it must go against the 2nd law’s tendency towards increasing entropy.

Now it is true that entropy can be decreased by work being performed on a system but there is no evidence for a naturalistic mechanism performing the work needed for such a large decrease in entropy. Without this mechanism the 2nd law suggests that abiogenesis is impossible.

Applied Energy and 2nd Law

The 2nd Law Thermodynamics does indeed show that when energy is applied to a system it can reduce the system’s entropy. What it fails to show how the manner in which energy is applied affects entropy.  It does not show the deference between construction work and a bomb.

Construction work reduces a system’s entropy while bombs increase a system’s entropy.  Unfortunately the 2nd Law does not show the difference.  The result is that additional principle is needed to show this difference and this is also need to really determine if abiogenesis is possible or not.

The 1st Law of Thermodynamics

The 1st Law of thermodynamics can be stated as follows

1. The Law of Conservation of Energy.
2. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed but it can change forms..
3. Total amount of energy in a closed system remains constant.

The significance of this is that the total amount of energy in the Universe is constant. It is also impossible to get more energy out of a system than is put into it. You can’t get just energy from nothing it has to come from some place. Most often it is stored in the form of some type of fuel but regardless energy has to come from some source. 

The 1st Law of Thermodynamics tells us a lot about what systems are possible and what systems are impossible. Any system that puts out more energy than is put into it from any source is impossible. To be possible a system must it needs to get energy from some place, even if it is not obvious. This does not mean that you can’t get more energy out of a system tan you put into it but it has to come from someplace..

Free Energy is often associated with pseudo-science and conspiracy theories but it is a legitimate scientific term. In classical thermodynamics free energy is the energy in a system available to do work. However “free energy” refers to a group of devices alleged to put out more energy than the user supplies to them. Though I have never seen a convincing demonstration of a free energy device the question here is does free energy violate the 1st Law of thermodynamics? 

The answerer is no as long as the free energy device gets energy from some place. Now there are recognized devices that technically qualify as free energy they include solar cells which get their energy from sun light and wind mills that get their energy from wind. However most alleged free energy devices seek to tape the Universe’s zero point energy. Now it is highly debatable as to whether or not this zero point energy can be taped but in principle it does not violate the 1st law thermodynamics.   

In conclusion the 1st Law of thermodynamics simply says that the amount energy in a closed system remains constant.  This is regardless of how it is changed or is moved around. To add energy to a system it needs to come from some place else.