An example of entropy I found was:
"A campfire is an example of entropy. The solid wood burns and becomes ash, smoke and gases, all of which spread energy outwards more easily than the solid fuel."
"A campfire is an example of entropy. The solid wood burns and becomes ash, smoke and gases, all of which spread energy outwards more easily than the solid fuel."
Let's say burning this campfire takes an hour, yes the entropy has increased over this time scale as the wood is now converted into gas, smoke and ash etc. Order to disorder.
Over time the materials left will then be incorporated into the soil and atmosphere, from which ordered things grow such as plants from the soil which use the gas from the atmosphere. So in the short term 1 hour after the fire the entropy has increased, but after tens of thousands of years the order returns. So you could only say the increase in entropy occurs in a certain time scale?
On a larger scale:
"Like all stars, our Sun radiates away its concentrated energy, increasing its entropy, and slowly coming into equilibrium with the cold vacuum of space."
"Like all stars, our Sun radiates away its concentrated energy, increasing its entropy, and slowly coming into equilibrium with the cold vacuum of space."
So let's say the sun takes 10 billion years to burn out. Over that time scale the entropy has increased.
However stars form by:
"Stars form by the slow contraction under gravity of a very large cloud of gas and dust particles in space."
"Stars form by the slow contraction under gravity of a very large cloud of gas and dust particles in space."
So over a vast time scale the atoms that the sun released will be used again to form new stars?
Therefore if the system you were considering has an infinite amount of time, then is it correct to say there is no true movement from order to disorder, as the order returns given enough time.