[FRIAM] Entropy RE-redux

[Nicholas Thompson]

 Thanks, Tom,  I always value you suggestions and comments.

On Wed, May 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM Tom Johnson <jtjohnson555 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Interesting query, Nick, but I am finding that it is always interesting
> (so far) to (1) ask the AI to provide comments and footnotes with
> hyperlinks of why it did what it did and #2 run the same query multiple
> times in the same platform over set time phases and the same thing in
> multiple platforms. Then compare an contrast.
> Tom
>
> =======================
> Tom Johnson
> Inst. for Analytic Journalism
> Santa Fe, New Mexico
> 505-577-6482
> =======================
>
> On Wed, May 28, 2025, 12:26 PM Nicholas Thompson <thompnickson2 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>> I am trying to "design" the simplest sort of phenomenon that demands the
>> concept of entropy.  My first description left many ambiguities which I
>> have attempted to correct in this revision.  Unfortunately, the revision
>> has gotten horribly long.  Still, I am hoping that at least a few of you
>> -- as you love me -- will respond.  Here is the prompt.
>>
>> Our goal is to juxtapose two bodies of air, of equal temperature  and
>> volume but different histories  to see which can exert the most pressure.
>> Thus we hope to separate the effects of temperature, per se, from the
>> effects of how that temperature was arrived at.   We start with a single
>> cylinder of air at one bar (roughly  sea-level pressure) and 50 degrees
>> C, which contains three slidable/peggable dividers.  One is installed at
>> the exact middle of the cylinder, the other two at opposite ends.  All
>> motions of the sliders will be quasi- static (infinitely) slow).  The
>> cylinders and the sliders are designed to be adiabatic—no heat or mass can
>> pass through them—except in the following two respects.  Just  to the
>> right of the central slider are installed two ports, one through which air
>> may be admitted or released and a second through which heat may enter or
>> depart through conduction.     These ports will always  be assumed to be
>> adiabatically sealed unless explicitly described otherwise.  Finally, on
>> either side of the central slider is installed a temperature sensor so that
>> we may know the temperature within the two chambers.
>>
>> With this equipment in hand, we begin the preparation of the two
>> juxtaposed chambers.  On the left, we push in the slider until the left
>> chamber reaches a temperature of 20 degrees C. and we peg it there.   We
>> measure the distance from the left slider to the central slider  . Now,
>> we open the heat and air ports on the right side of the central slider and
>> we push in the right slider until it is the same distance from the
>> central slider as the left slider is on the other side.  (Thus we have
>> guaranteed that the volume of the two adjacent chambers is the same)    Now
>> we close the air port.   Through the still open heat port we admit just
>> enough heat  to bring the temperature up to 20 degrees C. and then we
>> seal it.  So now we have, as planned, two adjacent chambers, of equal
>> temperature and volume.  Now we unpeg the central divider.  Which way,
>> if any, does it move and why?
>>
>>
>> --
>> nick
>> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. /
>> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom
>> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
>> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
>> archives:  5/2017 thru present
>> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
>>
> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. /
> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom
> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
> archives:  5/2017 thru present
> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
>


-- 
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
Clark University
nthompson at clarku.edu
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20250529/4e1f003b/attachment.html>