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Why does thermodynamics laws look like a tautology ? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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1^st^ law of thermodynamics :
There is something that will always be the same.
2^nd^ law of thermodynamics :
Everything else always changes and never will be what it was before.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The 1st law discusses energy. The total energy contained within a system totally isolated from others will not gain or lose total energy, but it can be transferred between places or change forms.

The 2nd law discusses entropy. The total net entropy of systems in natural interactions always increases. This isn't in contradiction to the 1st law, because the same net energy is there, but after any thermodynamic process, that energy just takes on a form that is more entropic than before.

These laws haven't been "ordained" by anyone, just scientists' best guesses for how the world works using our observations.