Ehrenfest’s Lottery — Time and Entropy Maximization
Abstract
Successful teaching of the Second Law of Thermodynamics suffers from limited simple examples linking equilibrium to entropy maximization. I describe a thought experiment connecting entropy to a lottery that mixes marbles amongst a collection of urns. This mixing obeys diffusion-like dynamics. Equilibrium is achieved when the marble distribution is uniform and the entropy is maximized. I also show the ideal gas law results from the entropy change when the number of urns is increased.
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2010-07-01
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