, 6 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Snowflakes are a good example of the fact that thermodynamic entropy isn't the same as "order" as perceived by humans. The snowflake has higher entropy (2nd law) than the water + air system that formed it, even though it looks far more organized.
You could say the spontaneous formation of crystals is order out of chaos, something out of nothing. Of course it isn't, but superficially that's what it looks like.
It's sad that I have to point this out for a small number of smartasses, but the tweet above explicitly defines the "closed system" (as per 2nd law) as water plus surrounding air. That's the system where entropy is increasing while apparent order seems to spontaneously appear.
Not the H2O molecules specifically (why do you think I said "water + air system"?)

There are many other such examples where apparent order emerges while entropy increases. Crystals are one. The point is that your perception of (dis)organization isn't the same as entropy.
And if you keep replying "no the final state of the system is actually more disorganized" I'm going to lose my shit. Yes, it has higher entropy, that's the 2nd law. But it doesn't *look* like it from your viewpoint. That's my entire point: your perception is deceitful
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