Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: Non-conservative forces in a liquid dielectric



Several days ago Pentcho Valev described an idealized
engine whose electric work is done at the expense of
heat at a constant temperature. Did I understand the
message correctly?

On Monday, May 26, 2003, he added:

Brian Whatcott wrote:

In considering this putative violation of conservation rules,

This is not a violation of conservation rules, Brian - rather,
is a confirmation of them. . . .

I am puzzled. Work amounts to organized energy
(elevating an object, for example) while heat amounts
to random molecular energy. An engine creating
macroscopic order out of microscopic disorder,
without creating disorder elsewhere, does seem
to violate the second law of thermodynamics.
Where is the "elsewhere" required by the law?
Ludwik Kowalski