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The heat death is a possible final state of the Universe , in which it has "run down" to a state of no Free Energy to sustain Motion or Life . In Physical terms, it has reached maximum Entropy . The hypothesis of a universal heat death stems from the 1850s ideas of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) who extrapolated the Theory Of Heat views of Mechanical Energy loss in Nature , as embodied in the first two Laws Of Thermodynamics , to universal operation. ORIGINS OF THE IDEA The idea of heat death stems from the Second Law Of Thermodynamics , which states that Entropy tends to increase in an Isolated System . If the universe lasts for a sufficient time, it will Asymptotically approach a state where all Energy is evenly distributed. In other words, in nature there is a tendency to the Dissipation (energy loss) of Mechanical Energy (motion); hence, by extrapolation, there exists the view that the mechanical movement of the universe will run down in time due to the second law. The idea of heat death was first proposed in loose terms beginning in 1851 by William Thomson , who theorized further on the mechanical energy loss views of Sadi Carnot (1824), James Joule (1843), and Rudolf Clausius (1850). Thomson’s views were then elaborated on more definitively over the next decade by Hermann Von Helmholtz and William Rankine . History The idea of heat death of the universe derives from discussion of the application of the first two Laws Of Thermodynamics to universal processes. Specifically, in 1851 William Thomson outlined the view, as based on recent experiments on the dynamical Theory Of Heat , that “heat is not a substance, but a dynamical form of mechanical effect, we perceive that there must be an equivalence between mechanical work and heat, as between cause and effect.” Thomson, William. (1951). “ On the Dynamical Theory of Heat , with numerical results deduced from Mr Joule’s equivalent of a Thermal Unit, and M. Regnault’s Observations on Steam.” Excerpts. & §§99-100 , Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, March, 1851; and Philosophical Magazine IV. 1852, Mathematical and Physical Papers, vol. i, art. XLVIII, pp. 174 (Lord Kelvin) - originated the idea of universal heat death in 1852.]] In 1852, Thomson published his “On a Universal Tendency in Nature to the Dissipation of Mechanical Energy” in which he outlined the rudiments of the ) and the universal dissipation of energy (the Second Law ), leading to diffusion of heat, cessation of motion, and exhaustion of Potential Energy through the material universe while clarifying his view of the consequences for the universe as a whole. The key paragraph is:Thomson, William. (1862). “On the age of the sun’s heat”, Macmillan’s Mag., 5, 288-93; PL, 1, 394-68. In the years to follow both Thomson’s 1852 and the 1862 papers, Helmholtz and Rankine both credited Thomson with the idea, but read further into his papers by publishing views stating that Thomson argued that the universe will end in a “heat death” (Helmholtz) which will be the “end of all physical phenomena” (Rankine). Physics Timeline (Helmholtz and Heat Death, 1854) TEMPERATURE OF THE UNIVERSE In a "heat death", the temperature of the entire universe would be very close to Absolute Zero . Heat death is, however, not quite the same as "cold death", or the " Big Freeze ", in which the universe simply becomes too cold to sustain life due to continued Expansion , though the result is quite similar.see http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae181.cfm for a more detailed explanation CURRENT STATUS |
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