In thermodynamics, there are two important laws – the first one refers to the conservation of energy and the second one refers to entropy. It is easy to describe the same processes in the economy, as well as in everyday life. Surprisingly, the thermodynamics and economy seem to have a lot in common.
The first law of thermodynamics
Talking about the first law and the conservation of energy, one can simply say that energy neither appears nor disappears out of nothing. In every thermodynamic system, the energy does not disappear, it is transformed to some other form of energy. This discovery led to the First Industrial Revolution having enormous consequences on the economy and humankind in general. However, budgeting in the economy also applies the same principle. An organisation will transform its money into something else, the money will not disappear, it will just change its form. The organisation can, for example, exchange its money for its employees’ work.
The second law of thermodynamics
Although formulated in many different ways, generally speaking, the second law of thermodynamics states that systems inevitably produce entropy, commonly understood as a measure of disorder. For example, it is easy to click the “undo” button, to eliminate unwanted results, but it will not “undo” the electricity spent for that process of clicking and undoing. Therefore, there is always someone who has to pay the bill for the electricity. This is the main reason that employers often take good care of efficiency in a company since they are the ones paying the bill as a consequence of inefficiency.
Reversible and irreversible processes
Thermodynamics also explains reversible and irreversible processes. One common example of an irreversible process is a warm cup of tea left on a table – it will cool down to room temperature, and without heating it up, it cannot be warm again. The same thing is with celebrity/political scandals: everyone is talking about them for a few days, but soon they forget it, unless something new happens, and “heats up” the temperature again.
Moreover, only high-temperature heat can carry out some work, and the same principle also applies to scientific research: at first, it is available only for a limited group of people and is usually expensive, and it tends to become cheap or free and available to greater masses. Just remember mobile phones thirty years ago, there were not many people who could afford them. Or all the hysteria about launching a new model of a smartphone or a car – everybody wants it, but a few can purchase it. And when it becomes cheap, nobody wants it anymore, so the company is forced to launch a new version (significantly better than the last one) such that they retain their profits.
If we go back to the laws and principles of thermodynamics, we can see the connection – when there’s a difference in temperature, the heat flows from higher to lower temperatures. The same principle applies to research, the development of new technologies, and new knowledge when it becomes accessible to everyone because it decreases its value as more people become familiar with it. This can explain how incorrect is a common belief that many people tend to believe in: “Everything you need to be successful is to set up an organisation, and it’ll work for you, you we’ll be free for the rest of your life”.
Following the same principles in CFD
When it comes to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and mesh generation for fluid flow simulations, exactly the same principles apply, too. Twenty-five years ago, a limited number of people had access to CFD methods and research, therefore, the cost of CFD services and software was significantly high. Today, however, more and more people enter the market and perform tasks with CFD, many of them not being CFD experts, just interested in the results CFD delivers.
That is the main reason that we at Creative Fields insist on the simplicity of meshing, the most labor-intensive part of CFD simulations.
Try our CF-MESH+ and let its simplicity inspire your new designs. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed on our newest developments.
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