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- Thread starter fa21212
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Hi @fa21212 -
Thanks for the interesting question! The short answer is that you have to work with what they give you in experimental passages, and that the Q can be answered by a combination of the latent heat flux info & general knowledge about water-air inferences...but that answer wouldn't be entirely satisfying (although it's arguably a better approach for the MCAT than trying to answer a Q like this based on general intuitions that contradict passage info). I dug into the original research & it is indeed the case that the ocean loses entropy to the atmosphere through evaporation. As far as I understand, the idea is that those specific water molecules gain entropy as they move from the liquid to gas phases, but the system of the ocean loses entropy because it is losing those molecules.
Here's an analogy: imagine that you're living with your family at 123 Anywhere St, working a low-wage job and contributing a reasonable share of your earnings to the household budget. Then you get a well-paying job and move out, at which point you stop contributing to the budget of the household at 123 Anywhere St. Once this change happens, your budget has gone up, but the household budget of 123 Anywhere St has decreased.
Hope this clarifies things & best of luck!!
Thanks for the interesting question! The short answer is that you have to work with what they give you in experimental passages, and that the Q can be answered by a combination of the latent heat flux info & general knowledge about water-air inferences...but that answer wouldn't be entirely satisfying (although it's arguably a better approach for the MCAT than trying to answer a Q like this based on general intuitions that contradict passage info). I dug into the original research & it is indeed the case that the ocean loses entropy to the atmosphere through evaporation. As far as I understand, the idea is that those specific water molecules gain entropy as they move from the liquid to gas phases, but the system of the ocean loses entropy because it is losing those molecules.
Here's an analogy: imagine that you're living with your family at 123 Anywhere St, working a low-wage job and contributing a reasonable share of your earnings to the household budget. Then you get a well-paying job and move out, at which point you stop contributing to the budget of the household at 123 Anywhere St. Once this change happens, your budget has gone up, but the household budget of 123 Anywhere St has decreased.
Hope this clarifies things & best of luck!!