Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion Physics Forum Not meeting conditions of a law

Can anyone please tell me what you call it when you don't meet the conditions of a law and therefore can't use it

To put it in context

The second law of thermodynamics is an expression of the tendency that over time, differences in temperature, pressure, and chemical potential equilibrate in an isolated physical system

Expressly I am not saying the law is violated or anything I am trying to describe the periods when you are outside the law because like in the law above

You haven't had enough time to reach equilibrium or the physical system is not isolated.

The joys of trying to work across languages.

I wanted to call it a local violation but the very use of the word violation seems to get people upset.

Anyone able to help with what those periods are called?

Hi, Orac, (wasn't that the computer from "Blake's Seven"?), welcome.

Hopefully someone with more expertise will come up with the real term, but if you need something in a hurry, how about a non-applicability?

Thank you for that .. will try that as a definition

I am a physics computer programmer/modeller and trying to work with an astrophysics group in english not my native language .... they are doing my head in over the 2nd law they make it way harder than it is.

We always just view it as the law of energy distribution with elasticty but they want to go into inane discriptions of probability. I go yes I know it involves probability but thats only to provide the elasticity.

I don't get how they haven't realized the 2nd law and General relativity are almost joined at the hip the universe has to have some elasticity you can't transact and balance all energy universe wide given the finite speed of light.

We are used to modelling huge plants and electrical systems and energy changes in sub systems all have there own loop closure times but these guys seem to not think of the universe of one big system that all transactions are balanced like every plank time or something ... doing my head in !!!!!

And yes Orac was the computer off "blake's seven" :-)