[asa] Chinese Laundry problem

A very intriguing problem.

To solve it I created a new universe, containing only the reflective
ellipsoid. The walls are a force field and not material.

In the ellipsoid I placed two irons at the foci. each iron was one
hydrogen atom, firmly fixed within the ellipsoid.

I then introduced one other hydrogen molecule, moving in a random
path at 1000 mph (this equates, as I recall, to about a temperature
of 70 degrees F).

The moving atom bounced around, hitting an iron frequently; never
changing its speed (although, of course, changing its velocity). At
the end of one billion years it was still moving at 1000 mph.

I conclude from this (I may be wrong) that in spite of good
intentions, thermal equilibrium will prevail in the original problem.

OK George, what have I missed?

Burgy

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Sun Jul 23 10:46:12 2006