Download The Heat Death

The Heat Death of the
Universe
Briana Wilsey
The End of the Universe
 There are two main theories regarding the
end of the universe

The Big Crunch



Occurs for a closed, spherical universe
Universe returns to a very dense state similar to
the beginning of the universe
The Heat Death
Origins
 The heat death was first proposed in 1854 by
Hermann von Helmholtz
 Clausius formulated the Second Law of
Thermodynamics in terms of entropy in 1865
The Heat Death
 Flat, open and accelerating universe
 Heat Death occurs as the universe moves
toward maximum entropy and minimum
temperature
Entropy
 Entropy-a measure of the disorder of a
system
 The Second Law of Thermodynamics

The total entropy of a system must always
increase
 Entropy increases as the universe evolves
Process
 As time increases toward infinity so does the
size of the universe
 Average matter and energy densities
approach zero
Indicators
 Stars burn out
 White dwarfs cool
 Black holes merge, drawn together by
gravitational radiation

They will eventually decay into photons and
particles as a result of Hawking radiation
 In some theories, protons will decay and all
baryonic matter will break down into more
fundamental forms
Result
 Once all possible reactions have taken place,
only fundamental particles and
electromagnetic radiation, or heat, will remain
 The universe will have reached maximum
entropy and no further reactions can take
place
 There is not enough energy left to do work
 The universe fades away
Cold Death
 The universe cools as a result of expansion
 Eventually it becomes too cold to support life
and the universe dies out
 Cold death and heat death are not the same,
although they both result in low temperatures
Works Cited
Hawley, John F., Holcomb, Katherine A. (2005). Foundations of
Modern Cosmology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Heat Death of the Universe. Retrieved March 26, 2006, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death
Birkedal-Hansen, Andreas, Al-Assam, Sarah. Retrieved March 26,
2006, from
http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae181.cfm