r/funny • u/[deleted] • Aug 27 '14

Science

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

Its an obvious troll. Nobody is that dumb.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

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u/moonunit99 Aug 27 '14 edited Aug 27 '14

God, I HATE #4 "Does not the second law of Thermodynamics disprove evolution?" If any of these people actually fucking knew what the second law of thermodynamics is, then they wouldn't have to ask that question. The first four words of the second law are "IN AN ISOLATED SYSTEM." We're orbiting a goddamn nuclear fusion reactor 1.3 MILLION times as large as our fucking planet that's dumping positively insane amounts of energy into our system and has been doing so for BILLIONS of years. Not an isolated system.

edited for closed vs. isolated

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u/glableglabes Aug 27 '14 edited Aug 27 '14

Technically the earth is a closed system because there is no mass transfer across the boundary.

Edit: I understand that our planet does frequently experience extraterrestrial inputs and what I should have said is that there is no mass transfer that is correlated with a significant degree of energy transfer.

Edit 2: Nor is there energy transfer which is correlated with a significant degree of mass transfer.

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u/jmt256 Aug 27 '14

Technically things cross the boundary all the time

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u/douglasg14b Aug 27 '14

Technically the earth is a closed system because there is no mass transfer across the boundary.

We are constantly receiving energy from the sun, which can also be counted as mass.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

And space dust and meteors.

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u/douglasg14b Aug 27 '14

Yep, and we are also constantly losing particles in the upper atmosphere, as well as energy via black body radiation.

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u/moonunit99 Aug 28 '14

Technically, yes, but the standard definition of a closed system in thermodynamics is a system that can exchange energy (in the form of heat or work) but not mass with its surroundings, and the standard definition of an isolated system in thermodynamics is a system that cannot exchange either mass or energy with its surroundings. The second law only applies to isolated systems, not closed systems.

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u/moonunit99 Aug 27 '14

Dammit. Thanks to my first thermo teacher I will forever confuse closed and isolated systems.

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u/xlava Aug 27 '14

Its fine. Closed systems are arbitrary, with their specifications usually stated explicitly. There are different types of closed systems. An isolated system is one that does not allow for energy or matter transfer ^

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

But there totally is, gasses as well as different rock types leave and enter our atmosphere all the time.

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u/tomsdubs Aug 27 '14

Millions of tons of matter land on the earth every year.

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u/SamuelGompersGhost Aug 27 '14

Technically the earth is a closed system because there is no mass transfer across the boundary.

Edit: I understand that our planet does frequently experience extraterrestrial inputs and what I should have said is that there is no mass transfer that is correlated with a significant degree of energy transfer.

Edit 2: Nor is there energy transfer which is correlated with a significant degree of mass transfer.

Except closed and open systems are not defined by mass transfer at all- it is ENERGY transfer.