RE: Entropy/lose the math, need laypersons def..
December 16, 2017 at 7:20 pm
(This post was last modified: December 16, 2017 at 7:20 pm by I_am_not_mafia.)
Free energy is energy that can perform work. It never performs this 100% efficiently so some free energy is lost as energy that cannot perform work. For example the water at the bottom of a waterfall is about a degree warmer but that doesn't really change anything.
Free energy exists as part of a thermodynamic gradient. For example, you can light a fire under a chimney and the heat will rise pulling up all the smoke because it is much colder above. You can use that heat to warm up water by storing it around the walls of the chimney, so you can put that heat to work. As the flow of free-energy performs work, the gradient is lessened. So the energy from the fire disperses out from a small area as it heats up the water and rises upwards. Or a ball rolling down a slope will slow down as the slope becomes less steep.
Free energy exists as part of a thermodynamic gradient. For example, you can light a fire under a chimney and the heat will rise pulling up all the smoke because it is much colder above. You can use that heat to warm up water by storing it around the walls of the chimney, so you can put that heat to work. As the flow of free-energy performs work, the gradient is lessened. So the energy from the fire disperses out from a small area as it heats up the water and rises upwards. Or a ball rolling down a slope will slow down as the slope becomes less steep.
