The Second Law of Thermodynamics - Term Paper Example

College In the second law of thermodynamics, when complex systems undergo a certain change, then the system will either maintain their current order or decrease their order. This means that a change in a system cannot increase the order of the system. This principle can be well applied in our day to day life. For example, human beings undergo the continuous change of aging. This does not make them any better rather their energy, strength and productivity either remains constant or reduce as they age. This means that the arrow of time points to decreasing the order of a product and not increasing. This principle is very much applicable in the fashion design industry and as a fashion designer it is always important to have this in mind. This is a critical review of the second law of thermodynamics and how the arrow of time is applicable to the fashion and design industry. Literature from relevant articles and websites were used to come up with the paper and relevant information recorded. As scientist argues, time is the fourth dimension of the universe. A clock may seem to be the main symbol of time but when one clock stops working, time does not wait for it rather it continuous. Time cannot go backward and so when time passes, it never goes back and we have to move with it. Time is also known to have one direction and so it will never go back to where it came from. When we use the Newton’s laws of motion, we can be able to calculate where something came from, however with time this is different. We are not able to calculate the exact position where the arrow of time came from. To understand the arrow of time, we have to look at the theory of entropy. Entropy in physics describes how things are arranged in an orderly manner. The theory of entropy is that if things are arranged in a certain order, then after some time it will become disarranged and disorganized (Kestin 119). Thus if you arrange your books neatly in an office, then you won’t be surprised if the next time you walk in the papers will be a bit disorganized. If you find the papers more organized than you left them then you have to ask yourself a lot of question since it is impossible. This theory of entropy is very important to a fashion designer. The designer has to know that however perfect things might be, they will be disorganized in some way and that they will need to be organized again. The second law of thermodynamics does not focus much on time rather it focuses on the arrangement of particles of matter. The arrow of time assumes that the universe started off in very low entropy meaning that the entire universe was in an organized state. This can also be the same to the products that fashion designers create such as shirts. When we create a shirt today, then the value of the shirt tend to either remain constant over time or decrease in value over some period of time if not sold. This is only on unsold products. Now let’s take an example of a shirt that is sold out. With time, the shirt begins to lose its value and as it gets old, the owner will obviously need another shirt. This is with respect to the second law of thermodynamics and the arrow of time. As a fashion designer, how is this theory important? First of all, this theory is important to the industry because as goods lose their value, new ones are needed and so the industry moves on. However before we produce new goods, the industry has to be sure of the amount of time that it takes the goods to totally lose their value in the, market. This will prevent situations where several goods are produced when the previous ones have not yet lost their value. As a result, both goods will end up losing their value at the same time and hence produce loses to the industry. Perfect timing is the key to providing the best goods over time. To know the perfect time for production. We have to study the market and understand the way that goods lose their value. This will ensure that we know exactly when to come up with new products and hence reduce chances of huge loses to the market. Time is a process that only has one direction. For example if we make an omelet from an egg, we cannot reverse the process and make an egg from the omelet. This means that time only has one direction that it follows and that it can never go back to what it came from. This is one of the most applicable concepts in the fashion and design industries. Before coming up with a new product, a fashion designer has to study the market and know if the product is suitable for that particular market. Once they have confirmed this, then they can go ahead and make the products. In case a product is made without much research on the market, then the result can be catastrophic. The designer can undergo a lot of waste and loss that he probably might not cover. This is because once a product is made, it cannot be returned to its former self. Therefore since making of products is a one way process, we have to be sure before making any product. This will prevent us from making huge losses that could have been avoided with a strict and responsible plan. Time therefore is important for planning since if the processes were irreversible, then several designers would be making many products and testing the market and if the market is poor then they reverse the whole process but since the process is irreversible this cannot be so. Designers are therefore forced to study the market, be sure about the market before coming up with a new product. This ensures that there is plan in their work. The arrow of time points out clearly that as time goes by; the product undergoes a disorganization state. This means that a new product will reduce its value, or even get old as time goes by. This is very important in fashion design in determining the buying trend of goods. It is for this that the designer studies the market and knows the exact time to produce another product. Different products take different time interval to lose value. For example in the early 21st century, it was common for people to consider side pocket trousers to be in fashion. However today this has changed. This means that the side pocketed trouser has lost its value over time and therefore as a fashion designer, a new product is needed. Studying the market is therefore a very important aspect of time. The market keeps changing with time and so the designer has to know of ways to adapt to these changes. This can only be done by first of all knowing that products lose their value over time and that after some time, new products are needed. As human beings get older, their preference also changes with their age. This means that the arrow of time affect the preference of human beings. For example, the clothes that we used to love when we were young are not the same clothes that we loved in our teens and when we become adults. There is always a change of preference and so the fashion designer has the responsibility of looking at the age bracket of people and designing clothes that they are likely to like. It would be very incompetent and vague for a fashion designer to design a suit that suits a nine month baby. This will be a waste of product as very few parents would even think of buying such a product for their babies. Market study is therefore dependent on the arrow of time. It is also important to note that it is important to know the largest age group in an identified population (Lightman 76). The arrow of time points out that as time goes by things get disorganized. This is proved by entropy. As fashion designers, it is very important to take great consideration of this fact and move it to make something out of the changing nature of things. People get to become more and lazier with fashion hence they need someone to come in and help them out with fashion matters. Most people have the money but less time to think about fashion and how they can look smart. To take advantage of this opportunity, fashion designers can move in to help these people look better despite their age and at the same time have some bit of their money. With this, not only will these designers be making something out of it but they will be helping these adults look better. This is one of the real application of the arrow of time to everyday life as the arrow tend to point to us what will happen in the future and we have to plan ahead and be ready to face the future. If we do not take advantage of such opportunities then we may not make as much as we expected. To clearly understand the second law of thermodynamics, one has to understand entropy and how significant it is to the fashion industry. Entropy is the arrangement of things. When something has low entropy, then it means that the arrangement of things is in an organized manner. The higher the entropy the more disorganized things become. The second law of thermodynamics is all about entropy. The law states that as time goes by, the entropy level increases meaning that things become more and more disorganized (Magie 312). Designers therefore have the responsibility of always rearranging things that time has disarranged. For example it is always important to tidy up an office everyday to bring it up to lower entropy. However some people would not tidy up a place that has nobody visiting e.g. when people go for a holyday, it is important that the cleaning and the tidying of the place have to continue to ensure that the place always is at lower entropy. However if this is not done, then it is expected that when the workers come from holyday, they will get a disorganized place not because they left it disorganized but because of the changing entropy. Designers therefore have the responsibility of ensuring that the entropy of a place is always kept low even when no one is around to disorganize a place. This is the reason why public offices always have someone to clean them up and service the place even when someone is not around to disorganize the place. This ensures that the entropy level of the place is always kept low. Before a designer moves into a particular market, they need to study the past and present trends of the market. This may include the history of the market, its challenges and how to improve it and some of the best ways to move into the market. The second law of thermodynamics is very critical in this field. It is very important in looking at the market trend and how the market is fairing. Not only does entropy apply to the natural tangible things in the universe, all other things including software’s have entropy since they have the fourth dimension of time. The market is also affected by entropy. At the beginning the market always has some challenges that the producer learns to avoid with time. However as time goes by and competition and other factors get in, new challenges get to the market and it is upon the designer to know how to overcome such challenges in order to be successful in the market. This can be described as an increase in entropy since during the beginning, the place had few challenges but as time goes by the challenges become more and more. Designers should therefore never expect to live without challenges however hard they try to remove them new ones shall always come. In 2007 Liz Davenport a major fashion design in Australia had a major shift from producing women casual wear to official wear. This was a decision that they came to after noticing that most of the women were shifting to official wear due to the major change of age group. As a result of this, official wear became more common especially for the middle generation who were now getting initiations into the job market. This can be seen as an application of the arrow of time. It results into a change which is very important in the fashion industry. Brown Buffalo, a major US fashion design company had to undergo a major management change in 2010. This was after a lot of wrangles in the management. It is said that when the company began, it had an organized management and there were little wrangles that was present in the organization. However, as time went by, the low entropy that existed among the management and the entire workforce started to rise. After about a decade, the entropy was so high that they had to change the organization structure. This is also a major applicable scenario of the second law of thermodynamics since the management moved from good to bad each year so that had to be returned to lower entropy (Montgomery 99). Sportax a leading sportswear company in Europe has made a lot of profit due to the smart decisions that the companies management chose. During the early days of the company, the management was confused on whether to specialize in sports wear or casual wear. However the company decided to venture into the market due to the good market that adidas had at the moment. The company overcame the challenges and after the reduction of production by adidas, the company became one of the major suppliers of jerseys to football clubs in Europe. They thought smart since they knew that the low entropy state within Adidas Company would climb as time went by. Parizadeh Amsterdam bought a branch Amsterdam after the branch had accumulated a lot of liabilities. This did not stop the fashion company from venturing into that area since they knew that the arrow of time will make things better for them. However, after sometime, they had to close the branch as things had moved from bad to worse thereby causing them to undergo a lot of loses. All these examples show how applicable the second law of thermodynamics is to our daily lives as fashion designers. As a result of this, fashion designers should use these cases to calculate trends and to predict the market that they are venturing into. Without this, things will always move from bad to worse in the fashion industry unless the fashion designers do something before the worse comes. Work cited Kestin, Joseph. The Second Law of Thermodynamics. Stroudsburg, Pa: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, 1976. Print. Lightman, Alan P. Great Ideas in Physics: The Conservation of Energy, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the Theory of Relativity, and Quantum Mechanics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Print. Montgomery, Stephen R. Second Law of Thermodynamics. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1966. Print. Magie, William F. The Second Law of Thermodynamics. S.l.: Harper and Bros, 1899. Print. Read More