Difference between revisions 5786725 and 5787632 on simplewiki

The idea of the heat death of the universe, proposed in 1851 by [[w:William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|William Thomson]], stems from the [[second law of thermodynamics]], which states that [[heat]] tends to pass from hotter to colder bodies and eventually becomes uniformly distributed. As an elementary particle of matter (such as a proton) self‑gravitationally shrinks, its heat becomes intensified ("augmented") to a higher temperature and then radiated away into the ambient vacuum:
<blockquote>
Although mechanical energy is indestructible, there is a universal tendency to its dissipation, which produces throughout the system a gradual '''augmentation''' and diffusion of heat, cessation of motion and exhaustion of the potential energy of the material Universe.
:—Thomson, William. [http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/papers/on_the_age_of_the_suns_heat.html On the Age of the Sun’s Heat] ''Macmillan's Magazine'', 5&nbsp;March 1862, pp. 388–93
</blockquote>

==Mechanism of heat death==
(contracted; show full)*[[Minimum total potential energy principle]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Cosmology]]
[[Category:Thermodynamics]]
[[Category:Universe]]