“Your generation just doesn’t know how to stay contented!” said the father looking at his son with great disappointment. The son had a few years ago joined his father’s business. Having learnt the ropes, he was now keen to bring about several changes in the organization both to increase profitability and to improve productivity. For a change the son was seated on a straight back chair even as his tense father was walking up and down the room.
Father: You are always thinking of more and more… Why would you want to change a winning formula? It is time you understood that money isn’t everything. Learn to be content. That is the very culture of our land – to be happy and content with what we have without all the time going after money.
Son: Dad! I understand you are tense. But I am very sure this will make our organization much better. The borrowing can easily be repaid within two years. The market potential is enormous. Why should we let someone else make money when I know we can do it ourselves?
Father: I am not talking just about the borrowing part. I am saying why are you running after money?
Son: Money by itself may not be much but I know that in my hands it will be well utilized. I can provide job opportunity for so many people. There is so much I can do. Contentment is in relation to the past, dad! I am most certainly content with what I have done till now. I have no regrets. But my ambition is directed towards my future. I know I can make a difference to so many people.
Father: We have limited resources. We are not ‘rich’ by any standards. With your kids growing up, now is the time to save for the future. You have to support them through their education till they are ready to start their career. At this point rather than saving up, you are planning on risking all our savings on a wild goose chase? I strongly advice you to start conserving the resources.
Son: (helplessly shrugging his shoulders) I don’t want to think of conservation dad! Now is the time for expansion – to really grow in all respects.
God looked at how Science was totally uninvolved with this conversation. It was almost like he had nothing to say here.
God: Why aren’t you trying to help the young man?
Science: (looking with great surprise at the Lord) What? How can I be of any help to him? This has nothing to do with me.
The Lord smiled. These were the times He really looked forward to – to be able to give Science a new perspective. It was time to make a difference to humanity’s understanding.
God: My dear child! I would like to know how far your children have understood the laws of Thermodynamics. Have you made adequate progress in that direction.
Science: (Now full of enthusiasm as this was his topic) Oh yes Father! We have made great inroads in our understanding though there is a long way ahead of us too.
God: I am sure. Can you just give me a gist of what you know?
Science: Everything happens because heat is flowing from a hot place to a cold place. Nothing happens without heat flow. There are no exceptions. Temperature differences is what makes heat flow. Heat flows in such a way to produce a uniform temperature level. The Zero(th) Law of Thermodynamics simply states that there is no heat flow between objects that are of the same temperature.
God: Wait! Before you proceed, how will you explain what is heat? It is energy right?
Science: Well, the relationship between heat and energy is like the relationship between dollars and money. U.S. dollars aren’t exactly the same as money. Money can take the form of pounds, rupees, francs, gold, bonds, time, real estate, or any other form. But all of these forms of money can be expressed in terms of dollars. So, the American dollar is a convenient way of expressing monetary value. Heat isn’t exactly the same as energy. Energy can be kinetic energy, potential energy, chemical energy, or nuclear energy. But all these forms of energy can be expressed in terms of an equivalent amount of heat. Therefore, heat is a convenient, universal currency of energy.
God: Hmmm… I understand your point. But the Zero law actually means that if the energy levels of two objects are the same there is no transference of energy. So what is the first law?
Science: The First Law of Thermodynamics is that heat cannot be created or destroyed. This is also known as the law of conservation of energy. Heat can only flow from place to place, or change form.
God: In other words heat usually manifests as kinetic energy – work is waiting to happen. Work will be done or will be wasted when heat flows from a hot place to a cold place. So really heat is work in waiting. Can you give a simpler explanation of this?
Science: (After thinking for a few seconds) Consider an unlit candle at room temperature. There is some chemical energy in the wax of the candle. But there is no heat flow from an unlit candle, so it can’t do any work. A burning candle does not create heat because heat cannot be created or destroyed. A burning candle liberates heat. Heat that already was in the candle (in the form of chemical energy) flows out. The melted wax is hot because heat has changed to a form that can escape. Heat flows from the flame and hot wax into the cooler atmosphere
God: And as it flows it could do some useful work, right? A small pot of water could be suspended over the flame, and the heat flowing into the water could boil it, creating steam which could turn on a tiny steam engine, which could do a little bit of work?
Science: Yes it could. But even if the candle doesn’t boil any water, heat is not destroyed. Heat has merely moved from a hot place to a cold place, making the hot place cooler and the cold place warmer, wasting the opportunity to do some other work.
God: Exactly! The flow of energy does not lose energy as energy cannot be destroyed. But it certainly lost an opportunity to work! What happens when both places are the same temperature?
Science: There will still be the same amount of heat as there was before the candle was lit. The only difference is that the heat is less well organized than it was. Previously the heat was concentrated in the candle. After the candle burns out, and everything reaches the same temperature, the heat is more uniformly distributed. It is more disorganized because it isn’t localized in one place. It is no longer available for work…
God: Unless you get energy from outside…
Science: Yes! In a closed system with repeated energy transformations free energy decreases and unusable energy increases. This is a phenomenon called entropy. The second law of Thermodynamics states ‘Entropy’ is a quantifiable measure of how evenly distributed heat is.
God: In other words the total amount of energy before a transformation equals the total amount of energy after the transformation irrespective of whether work was done or wasted. Yet, although the transformation does not change the total amount of energy within a closed system, after any transformation the amount of free energy available to do work is always less than the original amount of energy.
Science: Yes Father! That is our understanding.
God: Now you tell me my dear, how does this apply to the dialogue between the father and son on conservation versus expansion?
A slow smile spread across Science’s face. Indeed it was now easy to relate.
Science: The zeroth law states no energy flows between objects of the same temperature.
God: If there is no consideration there is no transaction!
Science: The first law or the law of conservation says heat can neither be created or destroyed…
God: At any given time the amount of resource available to the entire world is the same. Now that can be in the right hands or wrong hands…
Science: …and like when the candle is burning, a pot of water can be boiled, when the resource is in the right hands, it allows some ‘work’ to get done.
God: Exactly! Money is a very important resource. In the right hands it can do a lot for a lot of people.
Science: So… What about the second law? When energy is constantly converted in a closed system without any other work being done, the amount of usable energy decreases and the amount of unusable energy increases. How does that translate in our understanding here?
God: (with a broad smile) If the burning candle did not heat a pot, that energy is no more available to do work. The energy is not destroyed, it has become the atmosphere but it is no longer available for any work. Similarly, when the resource is merely blocked into a rigid loop, it is no more available to accomplish any work! All resources need to be used to really make a difference. Wealth on paper alone does not make a better world. It has to be employed to make a difference!
Science took a keen interest in the conversation between father and son now…
Son: Whatever the resource dad, if I don’t use it and simply let it sit like you said – conserving it for a use in a future date, it will probably become unusable! As it is most of our resources are like ‘dead stock’. We know they are there but we cannot really make any use of it. I need to employ all my resources and make it work rather than just wait idle. I would rather utilize every resource to its full potential by thinking expansion!
Written by Gita Krishna Raj | Published in infinithoughts in February 2012
When Science met God… | Segment Six: Lost in Time | Chapter Three: The Potential
