When I was a young science student, I decided to leave my studies at a well-known university to travel on a quest to find some truths about the universe. I was adventuresome and curious. I ended up in a mysterious place on our planet. I will not reveal where I visited because I wish to protect the safety of the person that I found. This person resides in a very old, large building. The building resembles a monastery or maybe an old castle. When I entered the building, I saw a long, long hallway, which was dimly lit. At the end of the hallway, there was an old person sitting and chanting. This person was very old, so old that I could not tell even what gender they were. This person was 5 billion years old – as old as the Earth. The person was wearing a burgundy robe and a hood. The person was chanting and nodding their head up and down. The chant went like this: “You Can’t Win, You Can’ Lose.” “You Can’t Win, You Can’t Lose.” And the person kept on repeating it, not saying another word. I was consumed with frustration and curiosity. What did this person mean? I returned to the university and consulted my colleagues who finally deciphered this great truth of the universe: THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS states that all the energy in the universe is a constant and energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Energy can be changed in form, however it is not lost in the universe.
I was very ecstatic about knowing this truth, so I decided to return to visit the old person who had taught me that truth. I managed to retrace my journey and find the old, large building. I found the long hallway, and as I walked slowly down the hallway, the old person sitting at the end, came into view. They were still chanting, but the chant went like this: “Things are getting worse all the time.” “Things are getting worse all the time.” This time I started to panic and worry. What did this person mean that things were getting worse all the time? I was angry because I did not want to hear this bad news. However, I did not take it out on the old person. I quietly left and returned to the university. I again consulted my colleagues. We cracked the code of this riddle. THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS states that energy in the universe tends to go from a state of order to a state of disorder.
You can hear a song about the first and second laws of thermodynamics, if you go to this web site: http://www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/links.html
It seems right that there should be a third part to this story and a THIRD LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS. There is a third law, but I need some assistance in telling the third part of the story. Perhaps I need to take another journey. By the way, some very complicated mathematics shows that it is improbable that the temperature in the universe can get down to absolute zero, and that is the third law of thermodynamics.
