>snip, snip....
>>Particle 1
>> Particle 2 * Particle 3
>> Particle 4
>>
>>* represents the common centre (ie, the place where the big crunch would take
>> place)
>>
>>Then:
>>
>>Particle 4
>> Particle 3 * Particle 2
>> Particle 1
>>
>>That probably doesn't make any more sense, but you never know! What's
>happened
>>is that all the particles have swapped places, relative to their original
>>position - this could carry on for all eternity, as within the system no
>>energy can be lost due to the conservation of energy theory - and as there are
>>no forces other than gravity involved, no energy can be lost to systems such
>>as friction or heat.
>>
>
>Note that entropy would still advance, having as one consequence
>the effect that the state of the universe would converge to a single,
>constant temperture... (i.e., all the stars would eventually burn out).
If the temperature of the universe converges to a constant temperature, won't
it vary depending on the size of it. After all, a compressed gas is much hotter
than a gas at ordinary atmospheric pressure, and yet the energy contained
within the system is the same. Therefore, if the universe is constantly
changing shape and size, the temperature will never level out at a constant
value.
I must admit at this point that, as yet, this topic is more of an interest than
a speciality, so I'll probably fail to argue that convincingly, but I'll have
a go. Give me about 4 years, and when I finish my degree course in Astrophysics
then I'll have another go.
I would have to say though, that although stars do burn out, when a star dies
it releases all of the gasses that remain, and these go on to make up other
stars. In the event of a supernova, then the debris of the dead star often
forms new and smaller stars very rapidly. An example of this, for the
astronomers out there, might be the Crab Nebula, which is believed to be the
remnants of a supernova, where burried deep in its heart is a relatively new
neutron star. But also surrounding it are many other collections of hot
gasses, which are the beginings of new stars. So it would be true to say
that eventually all stars are going to burn out, but others will take their
place.
This is just what I understand, and reason, by the way.I would be grateful if
someone could explain entropy to me in a different way to Stephen Hawking, as I didn't understand it in his book.
Drakir
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Richard Jones
jonesr@gatwick.geco-prakla.slb.com
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"Twisting, turning, through the ether"
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