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Re: maximum entropy and the seeking of lowest PE



I am aware of no such principle. What is usually meant is that the system
is seeking a state of maximum entropy; and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is
really the basis that should be used to explain phenomena where
"minimization of Potential energy" is often quoted.

The principle is minimization of mechanical energy in mechanical systems.
The minimization must be accomplished in accord with the laws of angular
and linear momentum conservation, for example. Without those laws the
Earth would plummet into the Sun because that is a state of much lower
potential energy than the present state. Such a process could not simul-
taneously conserve angular momentum and finish in a lower rotational
kinetic energy state, however.

Why not a principle of minimization of mechanical energy, Joel? Could it
not be just another form of the second law of thermodynamics operating
according to the mechanism David described which maximizes the entropy
of the system? There are certainly other statements of the second law
which don't mention entropy at all.

Leigh