CONSERVATION LAW
Charles François (2004). CONSERVATION LAW, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 635.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 635 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Methodology or model |
The first law of thermodynamics, which prescribes that in an isolated system, the quantity of energy neither increases or decreases with time.
Two caveats are of great importance.
First, the law is frequently enounced as refering to closed systems. This introduces an ambiguity in relation to the possibility of observing the system. (An isolated system, without inputs or outputs would be unobservable: it is in fact a pure abstract model wherein “closed” means “isolated”).
Secondly, this law is strictly quantitative: it says nothing about the quality of the energy.(see 2nd law of thermodynamics).