Imagine That You Are Talking with One of Your Friends

Multiple Choice

Imagine that you are talking with one of your friends. He states that evolution has actually violated the second law of thermodynamics because complex living organisms are more ordered than the nucleic acids, amino acids, and other molecules that compose them. Why doesn't evolution contradict the second law of thermodynamics?

A) Evolution is a biological process, and biological processes do not have to conform to the laws of physics.
B) Because evolution takes place over millions of years, the loss of entropy is negligible and thus the laws of thermodynamics are not violated.
C) Evolution doesn't affect entropy, as living organisms eventually die and become "disordered."
D) Even though evolution may decrease the entropy of living organisms, it increases the entropy of the Earth (or the universe) as organisms release heat.
E) Evolution actually does violate the second law of thermodynamics, and this fact is problematic for scientists.