The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that entropy increases for spontaneous p

Question

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that entropy increases for spontaneous processes and that an increase in entropy is associated with transitions from ordered to disordered states. Living organisms, even the simplest bacteria growing in cultures, appear to violate the Second Law, because they grow and proliferate spontaneously. They convert simple chemical substances into the highly organized structure of their descendants. Write a critical evaluation of the proposition that living organisms contradict the Second Law. The shell of marine organisms contains CaC03 largely in the crystalline form known as calcite. There is a second crystalline form of CaC03 known as aragonite. Based on the thermodynamic and physical properties given below for these two crystalline forms, would you expect calcite in nature to convert spontaneously to aragonite given sufficient time? Justify your answer. Will increasing the temperature favor the conversion? Explain.

Explanation / Answer

1.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states “The state of entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time.”

Or we can say that the changes in the entropy in the universe can never be negative its always positive.

Some critics claim evolution violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics; which is a decrease in entropy with an increase in the order and complexity.

For example marine shell convert calcite into aragonite thus the entropy decreases.

calcite into------ > aragonite

dS = s product – s reactant

dS = (88.70- 92.88) J /mol.K

dS = - 4.18 J /mol.K

Negative sign shows decrease of entropy.

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