Practice question · Multiple choice
The second law forbids processes the first law permits. What does it add?
Hints
- Ask whether a smashed cup reassembling would violate conservation of energy.
- Something else is being violated.
Show the answer
C. A direction, which energy conservation alone does not give
Why
The first law is silent about direction. A cup un-smashing conserves energy perfectly; the second law is what makes it never happen, and it is the only fundamental law that distinguishes past from future.
Practise Second Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy
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