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Does a blackhole decrease entropy in the universe?

Asked by timothykinney (2743points) January 26th, 2009

In thermodynamics we have a law that says that the entropy of the universe must always increase, though the entropy of sub-system can temporarily decrease. This increase of entropy generally happens through work -> heat processes (ie friction). We also think of the diffusion of atoms in a disorganized way as an increase of entropy. So if I have 1 mole of gas in a box and I open the box, the gas expands freely and entropy is increased.

I was thinking about the theory of blackholes the other day; the immense gravity of a blackhole condenses matter so completely that light cannot escape. If this is the case, then it is reasonable to assume that matter with mass certainly cannot escape either, therefore heat cannot escape (which is transferred by the kinetic motion of matter). Therefore, a blackhole condenses matter without heat loss. This seems to be a decrease in entropy (of the blackhole system). But what about the surroundings?

Let a gas cloud collide with the blackhole. Now the mole of gas which had expanded freely in a vaccuum is condensed into a much smaller volume without heat loss. The pressure will increase so much that the gas will condense into a solid, thus we have lost 1 mole of gas. This implies a decrease in entropy in the surroundings.

So the total entropy of the universe has decreased due to the blackhole, which seems to violate the second law of thermodynamics.

Can you shed light on this problem?

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