So, obviously there’s a mistake in my reasoning somewhere. Maybe I’ve pointed it out already I’m not sure.

You have a vat with some liquid. The ambient temperature X (which is low and not useful) keeps it at X temperature, a certain base level of energy. Through random collisions as temperature works some will get more energy than the average and get enough energy to evaporate. You separate those passively since it’s literally a phase change it could be done passively? (Leaving you with slightly less energy in the environment but which is in our case infinite since eventually you’d give the energy back before changing it a lot when doing useful things) with the now higher energy particles you have in a separate place?

It automatically turns high entropy useless environment thermal energy into higher more useful energy? (Cascade the same system many times for really high useful energy?)

This only works if the separation step can be done passively (or uses less energy than you gain from it) I guess but that seems maybe plausible considering the phase change?

  • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
    2·
    17 days ago

    The thing is, nobody doubts thermodynamics

    The law that entropy always increases, holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature.
    If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations — then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations.
    If it is found to be contradicted by observation — well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes.
    But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.

    Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World (1927)