One of the most important, yet least understood concepts in all of physics. Go to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial. The first 200 people will receive 20% off an annual premium subscription.

If you are looking for a molecular model kit, try Snatoms – a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically: https://snatoms.com

A big thank you to everyone who helped us understand different aspects of this complicated topic – Dr. Ashmeet Singh, Supriya Krishnamurthy, Dr. Jos Thijssen, Dr. Bijoy Bera, Dr. Timon Idema, Álvaro Bermejillo Seco and Dr. Misha Titov.

References:
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Harnessing the True Power of Atoms – Documentaries on Order and Disorder, Spark on YouTube – https://ve42.co/OrderDisorder

A better description of entropy, Steve Mould via YouTube – https://ve42.co/Mould2016

Dugdale, JS (1996). Entropy and its physical meaning. CRC Press. – https://ve42.co/Dugdale1996

Schroeder, DV (1999). An introduction to thermal physics. – https://ve42.co/Schroeder2021

Fowler, M. Heat engines: the Carnot cycle, University of Virginia. – https://ve42.co/Fowler2023

Chandler, DL (2010). Explained: The Carnot Limit, MIT News – https://ve42.co/Chandler2010

Entropy, Wikipedia – https://ve42.co/EntropyWiki

Clausius, R. (1867). The mechanical theory of heat. Van Voorst. – https://ve42.co/Clausius1867

What is entropy? TED-Ed via YouTube – https://ve42.co/Phillips2017

Thijssen, J. (2018) Lecture notes Statistical Physics, TU Delft.

Schneider, ED, & Kay, JJ (1994). Life as a manifestation of the second law of thermodynamics. Mathematical and Computational Modeling, 19(6-8), 25-48. – https://ve42.co/Schneider1994

Lineweaver, CH, & Egan, CA (2008). Life, gravity, and the second law of thermodynamics. Physics of Life Reviews, 5(4), 225-242. – https://ve42.co/Lineweaver2008

Michaelian, K. (2012). HESS Opinions/"Biological catalysis of the water cycle: thermodynamic function of life/". Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 16(8), 2629-2645. – https://ve42.co/Michaelian2012

England, JL (2013). Statistical physics of self-replication. The Journal of chemical physics, 139(12), 09B623_1. – https://ve42.co/England2013

England, JL (2015). Dissipative adaptation in driven self-assembly. Nature nanotechnology, 10(11), 919-923. – https://ve42.co/England2015

Wolchover, N. (2014). A new physical theory of life, Quantamagazine – https://ve42.co/Wolchover2014

Lineweaver, CH (2013). The entropy of the universe and the principle of maximum entropy production. In Beyond the Second Law: Entropy Production and Non-equilibrium Systems (pp. 415-427). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. – https://ve42.co/LineweaverEntropy

Bekenstein, JD (1972). Black holes and the second law. Lett. Nuovo Cimento 4, 737–740. – https://ve42.co/Bekenstein1972

Carroll, SM (2022). The Greatest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion. Penguin Publishing Group. – https://ve42.co/Carroll2022

Thermodynamics of Black Holes, Wikipedia – https://ve42.co/BlackHoleTD

Cosmology and the Arrow of Time: Sean Carroll at TEDxCaltech, TEDx talks on YouTube – https://ve42.co/CarrollTEDx

Carroll, SM (2008). The Cosmic Origin of Time's Arrow. Scientific American, 298(6), 48-57. – https://ve42.co/Carroll2008

The Passage of Time and the Meaning of Life, Sean Carroll (Talk Q&A), Long Now Foundation via YouTube – https://ve42.co/CarrollLNF

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Written by Casper Mebius, Derek Muller and Petr Lebedev
Edited by Trenton Oliver and Jamie MacLeod
Animated by Mike Radjabov, Ivy Tello, Fabio Albertelli and Jakub Misiek
Filmed by Derek Muller, Albert Leung and Raquel Nuno
Video of molecular collisions from CSIRO's Data61 via YouTube: Simulation of air
Additional videos/photos provided by Getty Images, Pond5 and courtesy of NASA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Goddard Flight Lab/CI Lab, NASA/SDO and the science teams at AIA, EVE, HMI and WMAP. As well as the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, B. Robertson, L. Hernquist
Music by Epidemic Sound & Jonny Hyman
Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, Emily Zhang and Casper Mebius

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