"Now let us suppose that such a vessel is divided into two portions, A and B, by a division in which there is a small hole, and that a being, who can see the individual molecules, opens and closes this hole, so as to allow only the swifter molecules to pass from A to B, and only the slower molecules to pass from B to A. He will thus, without expenditure of work, raise the temperature of B and lower that of A, in contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics."
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Maxwell's demon
is an 1867 of James Clerk Maxwell suggesting how the second law of thermodynamics might hypothetically be violated. The description was contained in his Theory of Heat in 1871. As individual gas molecules approach a small hole, his demon quickly opens and shuts it to allow only fast molecules to passed from chamber A into chamber B, and only the slower particles to pass back from chamber B. This causes the the second chamber to warm and the original chamber to cool, even though the chambers are
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