Universe as a system

[Miles John-Baptiste 3C]

Why is the universe considered a closed system?

[hiranya sundar 2D]

I think it's because we don't know anything that can 'escape' our universe per se. Everything in our lives will be contained by our universe so it's a closed system cause energy and mass cannot escape.

[Gregory_Kislik_2C]

I believe that the universe is an isolated system. The amount of energy, mass, and heat in the universe are all constant (as far as we know), meaning that it cannot exchange it with any "surroundings". This makes it an isolated system; the amount of energy will stay constant over time.

There are very fringe ideas about "white holes" which dump matter/energy from other universes back into ours, but there is very little evidence for their existence, so for now the universe remains an isolated system. I hope this helps and please let me know if there are any errors.

[Amy Zhang 1I]

I believe it is due to the fact that everything that occurs is known so far to stay within the same universe. We do not know if our universe would affect outside universes, if it can at all.

[Vishal Reddy Kunam]

Hello, I believe that the universe is actually considered an isolated system rather than a closed system. The definition of an isolated system is a system that does not feature any exchange between the system and its surroundings. Since, as of now, the universe is all we know that exists (aka we don't know about the existence of something beyond our universe), there is no transfer of energy between our universe-- which is the system in this case-- and the nonexistent surrounding. This is actually what provides credence to the First Law of Thermodynamics which states that in our given universe, energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only transferred from one form to another; in other words, the internal energy of the universe remains constant, and we know that isolated systems have constant internal energies.

[Eli Weiss-Hung 2C]

The universe is considered an isolated system, meaning neither matter or energy can enter or exit. As far as we know the universe is infinitely large, so it encloses everything. Additionally, the first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, so energy in our universe must remain constant and it is therefore an isolated system.

[505468108]

The universe is considered an isolated system because energy cannot be added or taken away. In an isolated system there is no exchange of energy with the surroundings. This is the law of conservation of energy (1st Law of Thermodynamics)

[Bella Valente 2K]

The universe is actually not a closed system, but an isolated system. In a closed system, energy can exchange with its surroundings, whereas in an isolated system, nothing exchanges with its surroundings. Since the universe does not have any "surroundings" to exchange energy with, it would be an isolated system.

[Elijah Medrano 1B]

Hello,

I would like to add on to what others have said and say that we consider the universe an isolated system, not a closed system. We say it is an isolated system because it has no surroundings, and it encloses everything inside it. Thus, it can neither gain nor lose matter and/or energy. The energy within the universe can change, be transformed, whatever, but is not gained or destroyed, abiding by the first law of thermodynamics as discussed in lecture.