How and why does everything in life reach equilibrium?

[scilearner]

Hello,

 

In science there are so many equilibrium concepts. Pressure, electricity ,concentration.....

 

Everything seems to be moving from high to low to reach equilibrium

 

My questions are

 

1. Why does everything try to reach equilibrium? (Extremes are generally harmful and for survival of this word equilibrium is required is that the reason)

2. From where do the particles get energy to move from high to low and how do they know they have to move from high to low to reach equilibrium.

 

Thank you very much!!

[Sisyphus]

"Equilibrium," by definition, is just the point where various influences balance each other out. So, "why do things tend towards equilibrium" is a circular question, because "what it tends towards" is equilibrium by definition.

[swansont]

Equilibrium is a minimum energy condition.

 

[math]F =-\nabla U[/math]

 

i.e. we observe energy gradients as forces; they vanish at the minimum

[GDG]

Hello,

 

In science there are so many equilibrium concepts. Pressure, electricity ,concentration.....

 

Everything seems to be moving from high to low to reach equilibrium

 

My questions are

 

1. Why does everything try to reach equilibrium? (Extremes are generally harmful and for survival of this word equilibrium is required is that the reason)

2. From where do the particles get energy to move from high to low and how do they know they have to move from high to low to reach equilibrium.

 

Thank you very much!!

 

1. The short answer is "the 2nd law of thermodynamics". For an explanation of why, you have to read up on statistical mechanics.

 

2. The particles move from high to low because they already have the energy, whether that energy is potential or kinetic (which is what makes them "high"). Think of the high energy particles colliding with low energy particles: the high energy particle loses some energy, while the low energy particle gains some. Since, between any two particles that collide, the high energy particle loses while the low energy particle gains (heat doesn't flow from the colder to the hotter), the population of particles averages out, and you end up with a collection of particles having a distribution of energies centered on the average.

[Mr Skeptic]

Hello,

 

In science there are so many equilibrium concepts. Pressure, electricity ,concentration.....

 

Everything seems to be moving from high to low to reach equilibrium

 

My questions are

 

1. Why does everything try to reach equilibrium? (Extremes are generally harmful and for survival of this word equilibrium is required is that the reason)

 

An equilibrium is when all the forces or activities cancel out. Why do things tend toward the equilibrium? Imagine if they were not: they would be heading in one direction. For example, a chemical reaction. But most such things cannot keep going forever, for a chemical reaction it would run out of reagents. At some point it has to stop, and that stopping point is by definition the equilibrium.

 

The only place anything can stop is at equilibrium, because that is the definition of equilibrium -- where things balance out, cancel out, etc.

 

But swansont said it far more elegantly and succinctly.

 

2. From where do the particles get energy to move from high to low and how do they know they have to move from high to low to reach equilibrium.

 

The "high" particles already have energy. They don't "know" to go from high to low, it is just a statistical thing. Random interactions tend to transfer energy from the most energetic to the least energetic. If you play pool, think billiard balls.

 

But it can go the other way too. If you had a bunch of particles moving at exactly the same speed in random directions, their interactions would make some slow down and some go faster, until they reach an equilibrium spread of energy. However, what you won't get is a bunch of particles with an equilibrium spread of energies separating into two groups with different average energies (ie, lukewarm separating into hot and cold). No real reason it would be impossible, just absurdly unlikely. It would be more unlikely than all the billiard balls bumping in just the right way as to transfer all their energy back to the cue ball.

[Sorcerer]

1. Why does everything try to reach equilibrium? (Extremes are generally harmful and for survival of this word equilibrium is required is that the reason)

 

First off use of the words "try to" implies will, it can be forgiven and omitted.

 

Life, infact, is constantly offsetting equilibrium through the imput of chemical energy, which ultimately comes from the sun, or in some cases (Chemotrophs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotroph) from other chemical sources.

 

Sorry if I took the words "in life" from your topic header out of context.

 

Edit: this being so, equilibrium is still in process, since energy used to offset equilibrium in cells is taken from another place. IE the sun gets colder, and life gets warmer.

 

2. From where do the particles get energy to move from high to low and how do they know they have to move from high to low to reach equilibrium.

 

All matter has thermal energy, except that at absolute zero temperature, this however will gain energy from other matter to obtain equilibrium. Except if that matter is also at absolute zero, this is possibly what could be call the ultimate equilibrium.

 

Edit: The question you're asking could also be phrased, "why does entropy continually increase?" And can only really be answered circularly, it just does, its an observation that holds true, so far.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Sorcerer

[foodchain]

First off use of the words "try to" implies will, it can be forgiven and omitted.

 

Life, infact, is constantly offsetting equilibrium through the imput of chemical energy, which ultimately comes from the sun, or in some cases (Chemotrophs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotroph) from other chemical sources.

 

Sorry if I took the words "in life" from your topic header out of context.

 

Edit: this being so, equilibrium is still in process, since energy used to offset equilibrium in cells is taken from another place. IE the sun gets colder, and life gets warmer.

 

 

 

All matter has thermal energy, except that at absolute zero temperature, this however will gain energy from other matter to obtain equilibrium. Except if that matter is also at absolute zero, this is possibly what could be call the ultimate equilibrium.

 

Edit: The question you're asking could also be phrased, "why does entropy continually increase?" And can only really be answered circularly, it just does, its an observation that holds true, so far.

 

Here is an interesting link on a concept that is still somewhat "new" if you will.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negentropy

 

In terms of life lots of potential energy is derived in the metabolism by bonds being broken/bonds being formed(Anabolism/Catabolism in a very general sense). As some chemical reactions give off energy while others require it, that's the exo-/endo- prefix to thermic which of course is short of thermodynamic stuff that also deals with concepts like enthalpy, activation energy, and catalysts, or enzymes, lots of stuff, etc...

 

Though a endothermic change of state/phase can be something other then a reaction and same for exothermic, think of water freezing to ice ->liquid to solid phase change with no chemical change to the substance.

[Sorcerer]

Simply put life runs off energy and entropy is part of that, more is needed for a full definition of life. (reproduction/evolution)

[Mason>,<]

I agree with Sorcerer, we're all headed towards maximum entropy, since the big bang we were at our highest potential and now we are just ''cooling'' down. Here's my crazy no actual knowledge of anything sorta childish theory - What if at the big bang we were actually at our lowest potential energy and are headed towards our highest potential in which we can subsequently cause another big bang. I would say that the universe could expand and then its gravitational force would overcome its outward nuclear force (like a star, dunno how that applies to the universe) but according to studies on dark matter and energy, we have reached a point where the dark energy which pushes everything away from each other has overcome the universes gravity and we are all just gonna drift away and burn all our energy and then be completely void of energy (which could be what I think of as highest potential)but dunno how then another big bang would occur.This is all just my wanting to believe that the Universe is in a loop of sorts and is infinite. If you are actually in physics and know that this is all just stupid, please don't correct me:doh:

[devrimci_kürt]

equilibrium or chaos ?

who know, maybe from equilibrium to chaos