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¿Question #3402?
Ludocrazy: If the universe is infinite, how can there be entropy? Doesn't the infiniteness cancel it out?

pricero1: Your desk will still get increasingly untidy, whether or not the universe is infinite.
isobar: Entropy was developed to only involve closed systems. If the universe is considered Infinite, than you can't use the concept of entropy because infinite systems aren't considered to be closed.
vandemonium: Uh, Coke?
MartinWin: Universe isn't infinite.
Woelf: I took a few Thermodynamics classes in college, and have come to the conclusion that Entropy is a variable that was invented purely to make the equations and formulas work out to nicer numbers.
Jatoha: This requires thinking
Spirit of 70: Not at all. Because entropy is the dispersal of matter and energy over space, infiniteness facilitates it.
forthur: I believe the universe is not inifinite until people prove it to be. Simply speculating while certain cosmic constants are still unknown is useless.
jessitron: no.
Redhawke: If the universe is infinate (a fact I'm not convinced of), it's infinate in the sense that spacetime is bent in such a way that we can never reach a point that could be called the edge, nor could any point be described as being the "center" or such. More detail would require more space than I have here, but suffice to say that the "infinate" of the universe is not the same as the "infinate" you refer to.
ahauwi1: The infiniteness of the universe is a 4d infinity, where time is involved. Entropy changes with time. So entropy approaches 0 as the age of the universe approaches infinity. Or something like that. I might have my head up my ass for all I know anymore.
PsyJam: I don't think the universe is infinite. In fact, I don't even believe in 'infinity'. I believe in the ineffectiveness of the human mind to comprehend such vast (or miniscule) measurements.
Polgara: it's a conspiracy
Randy Cox: I do not think about things I do not think about.
MrHen: No, because "infinite" does not necessarly mean any particular thing within the universe is infinite. Besides, entropy has more to do with chaos and order than destruction.
nickguay: No
WalkerRedEye: its fine teh space wizards will sort it out
aleo09: too much thinking,
DHEK: I don't know enough about science to answer that.
malloc: it falls apart as it goes on
POvidiusNaso: Yes. Entropy only works in contained units, from what I know of it. Like, say, a planet.
maumau: Who told you the universe is infinite?
HappiestWookie: my head just imploded
Geosmores: nope
glookose: no
2amp: as soon as something it built, it starts to fall apart. slowly at first, but with time, entropy increases
presence: Looks like entropy exists in my local area. How's your bubble?
produceguy1765: who said the universe is infinite
Skeletor: yes, i like animals too
cowdog: Why would one think they are connected?
greglios: Ask a physicist
dragonewtking: infinite is a concept, entropy is a state of being; they're not mutually exclusive
f-p-p-m: I will tell you when I reach the end of the universe or you show me that there is no end.
scriptorum: Because the universe is not infinite. Just really, really big. Mind-bogglingly so.
Chris Page: What matters (and can be measured) is the change in entropy, not the absolute entropy. And the universe is finite, too.
marshalljansen: Let's not have a physics lesson here... you can see the effects of entropy in daily life, so regardless of the current entropic state of the universe, or it's potential to revert to a totally entropic state, it is self evident that entropy does increase unless you exert energy to prevent it.
Shotmagnet: whole lotta empty in the infinite
dietevil: No - because entropy just means the universe is going toward maximum disorder. An infinite universe could have varying degrees of disorder.
bigbadsteve: well, its like this
brainrob: The universe is not infinite. Keep up with science.
confuse_a_cat: In what way is the universe infinite?
meshuggener: No one has said the universe is infinite either in size or age.
ZombyDawg: The universe is finite. Evidence points to a beginning at specific point in time and that the universe is expanding. It only follows that it cannot be infinite. Therefore the universe is a closed system and the second law of thermodynamics applies.
melissa: Can't there be an infinite amount of entropy?
xlorp: Think of order in terms of a limit of 0 as x approaches infinity.
Cerebus: No.
mrbeankc: Since it doesn't effect how good my Chinese take out is, there can be all the entropy you want.
puffinge: I was never good at science.
Mike A: So you're the one who put Boltzmann in his grave. Curse you.
Belash: yes. now write the paper proving it and earn your Nobel Prize... We knew Ludocrazy when...
GuyHill: not necessarily
djlg: The universe isn't infinite
jellospike: "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." -Albert Einstein
dakarp: The universe is not infinite, but being infinite wouldn't keep entropy from existing.
Karlsen: You're probably going to have to wait a long time to find out
skelebone: You would think that, but you'd be wrong.
Lord_Prussian: Perhaps you've hit on something and the universe is not infinite.
jttm: *blinks* duhh... what he talking bout?
CDRodeffer: The universe is not infinite, but even if it were, entropy could still exist.
CortexBomb: It requires thinking in an odd way. Try this one: There are two sets of numbers, one is the set of all odd numbers, one is the set of all whole numbers. There are more items in the second set, but both are infinite. Similarly, an infinite set can suffer loss and still maintain its infinite status. This doesn't mean that the entropy hasn't occured, because the number of items in the infinite set has decreased, despite still being infinite :-)
chaddyboy_2000: I don't even know what entropy is.