Question

Do biological organisms violate the law of entropy? Why?

a. No, because entropy produced by organisms is greater than any decrease in entropy within those organisms.

b. No, because organisms actually increase their own entropy, despite the appearance that they are organized.

c. No, because the energy taken in by living organisms is balanced by the energy flowing out of those organisms.

d. Yes, because this law does not apply to living organisms.

Answer 1

Entropy is a measure of disorder in a system. Since the living systems are not a closed system, energy can flow in and out from the system. We have seen that the living organisms are a highly ordered biological system, hence they have less entropy compared with their non-living constituents, hence this a key feature of "Life". Here the energy taken in by living organisms is balanced by the energy flowing out of those organisms. This is the way they respect the second law of thermodynamics.

Answer: (C)