Starship Encounters: are there any more detailed 2e rules beyond the Core Book?

[swordtart]

Nope. How do you use fusion energy without changing disorder or randomness in a system? It isn't simply waste heat.

Fusion is adding atoms together. Does it not reduce local entropy as there are less free atoms jiggling around? But the normal rule is that entropy always increases. That is overall entropy of the closed system though not necessarily a specific sub element of the system. The fusion reaction releases energy but if it isn't waste heat then surely it isn't entropy?

I always hated entropy. Too bloody slippery by half.

 

[Sigtrygg]

You have to consider the entropy effect of all the products of the fusion reaction and what they do, the particles and energy released during the fusion reaction increase entropy or the fusion process would not occur in the first place.

It looks like an entropy decrease if you only consider the arrangement of the fusing particles, but you need to take into account the effects of the products, especially the energy, on the number of micro-states that are now available, ie entropy (at least one version of it anyway).

 

[swordtart]

You have to consider the entropy effect of all the products of the fusion reaction and what they do, the particles and energy released during the fusion reaction increase entropy or the fusion process would not occur in the first place.

It looks like an entropy decrease if you only consider the arrangement of the fusing particles, but you need to take into account the effects of the products, especially the energy, on the number of micro-states that are now available, ie entropy (at least one version of it anyway).

Agreed, not just chaotic vs non-chaotic.

The problem with applying absolutes to specific scenarios is where you draw the boundaries. Entropy is a good example of a concept that is great for stimulating thought but less useful for application to concrete examples. All of the thermodynamic laws apply to thermodynamic systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. Since that is not always the case for real systems the Laws don't always apply. The wonderfully compelling idea that we are all heading for the heat death of the universe makes little practical difference to any real-world (or even RPG) scenario

Waste heat sounds simple but is also nuanced. When we used filament bulbs there was much talk of wasted energy as heat. In summer this was often the case as even at night we wanted less warmth not more. On colder evenings where we put the heating on however none of the heat from the bulbs was wasted (or that of the wiring for that matter). Any heat reduced the heat I had to pump in from the heating system. Since that was thermostatically controlled every degree generated by the light bulbs was a degree I didn't have to generate from an electric heater. So it would be more accurate to talk of heat as a by-product instead and only if we don't use the by-product does it become waste. Engineers have become very good at recycling heat in systems and improving efficiency. I see no reason why that would not occur in the future.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Entropy is one of the most misunderstood concepts in physics...

it doesn't help that the majority of textbooks use dumded down definitions that lead to confusion...

how many have heard the teenager's bedroom analogy...

This last one is the only one that gets it right.

 

[swordtart]

My physics degree was 35 years and many beers ago. I learned more about roleplaying games than physics to be honest at the time.

Thermodynamics was not my favourite subject as I failed to recognise that the phrase "There is no engine as effective as a Carnot engine" was not, as I and my friends thought, an enthusiastic recommendation for a particularly efficient engine but was an overly elaborate way of saying that a Carnot engine is a theoretical 100% efficient engine.

I learnt more about thermodynamics post graduation as I decided to read some of the text books that I had bought as a fresher believing that simply having them in close proximity would confer knowledge

It all brings back painful memories