Thomas asked a question at the end of the class today. If memory serves, it was something like: if you had access to all of the information, wouldn't you just keep track of the energy itself?
I am not going to answer this question now, although maybe later the answer can be revealed. However I will pose a question in return...
What - in practical terms - would it mean to "have access to all of the information" in such a way that this could be done?
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I should probably say something on this one myself...
ReplyDeleteI'd wanted to say that while we may choose to use thermodynamics (and entropy) for many problems in biophysics, it doesn't mean that it's always necessary. Many introductory-level texts on the history of thermodynamics could explain how much simpler, easier or sensible it often is to do so, but if you "have access to all of the information" the problem could conceivably be approached in other ways. I'll chicken out and leave it for someone else to actually answer what is necessary out of "all of the information" to use only energy instead of entropy, but a lot more about both the system and its surroundings would potentially have to be known.
I was also indirectly asking: is entropy 'real'? Is it just as 'real' as energy? Both are measurable quantities, but to what extent are both just theoretical constructs used to simplify our descriptions of various physical systems? (And does it really matter?)