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Can any mineral/material on earth be destroyed/wasted?
Posted on 1/5/20 at 8:49 pm
Posted on 1/5/20 at 8:49 pm
Yes, plastic won’t degenerate anytime soon BUT will it eventually, given enough time, ever finally break down back into the minerals and resources it was made from?
Plastic, for example, is made from natural materials put through a man-made process but that plastic, given enough time, has to eventually break down and return to its original mineral forms, correct? I’m talking billions or trillions of years.
I feel like earth has a way of returning everything back to its original state given enough time - whether it’s one year or trillions and trillions of years.
Plastic, steel, etc. I believe would all eventually return to its mineral state. Those who are much smarter than me please chime in and shed some light on this for me to settle an argument. Does everything have a half life, so to speak? Am I dumb/drunk/high?
Plastic, for example, is made from natural materials put through a man-made process but that plastic, given enough time, has to eventually break down and return to its original mineral forms, correct? I’m talking billions or trillions of years.
I feel like earth has a way of returning everything back to its original state given enough time - whether it’s one year or trillions and trillions of years.
Plastic, steel, etc. I believe would all eventually return to its mineral state. Those who are much smarter than me please chime in and shed some light on this for me to settle an argument. Does everything have a half life, so to speak? Am I dumb/drunk/high?
19
Posted on 1/5/20 at 8:53 pm to TDsngumbo
Eat plastic straws for every meal and let us know what comes out your ani
Posted on 1/5/20 at 8:55 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:
plastic, given enough time, has to eventually break down and return to its original mineral forms, correct?
quote:
I’m talking billions or trillions of years.
Posted on 1/5/20 at 8:58 pm to TDsngumbo
Is a trillion a lot?
Posted on 1/5/20 at 9:02 pm to wickowick
It's about tree fiddy less than infinity
Posted on 1/5/20 at 9:50 pm to wickowick
Well considering the universe is only like 13.8 billion years old. Yeah a trillion is a bit much baw.
Posted on 1/5/20 at 10:19 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:Try a thousand years.
Plastic, for example, is made from natural materials put through a man-made process but that plastic, given enough time, has to eventually break down and return to its original mineral forms, correct? I’m talking billions or trillions of years.
quote:Probably at least 2 of these
Am I dumb/drunk/high?
Posted on 1/5/20 at 10:21 pm to TDsngumbo
Plastics come from crude oil, not minerals or ores.
Posted on 1/5/20 at 10:23 pm to TDsngumbo
This is what happens when you don't pay attention in science class, folks
Posted on 1/5/20 at 10:25 pm to TDsngumbo
So, the concept you’re looking for is entropy, but that’s not really how it works.
Posted on 1/5/20 at 10:49 pm to TDsngumbo
Plastic doesnt take that long when you burn it. Don’t let big government fool you
Posted on 1/5/20 at 10:54 pm to TDsngumbo
Wow
Posted on 1/5/20 at 10:57 pm to TDsngumbo
As long as the plastic is non GMO and organic, yes you are correct.
Posted on 1/5/20 at 11:03 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:
Can any mineral/material on earth be destroyed/wasted?
The second law of thermodynamics says yes.
Posted on 1/5/20 at 11:06 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:Third grade classmate Ronnie used to destroy ants on sunny days with a magnifying glass.
Can any mineral/material on earth be destroyed/wasted?
He ended up going to GCMA.
tl/dr: Yes
Posted on 1/5/20 at 11:10 pm to TDsngumbo
I just pictured this while reading your post
Posted on 1/5/20 at 11:12 pm to MikeD
quote:
Plastics come from crude oil, not minerals or ores.
Neat fact. A good portion from “gas wells” is ethane but we never see it on the market to consume as a fuel source (where we use methane, propane and butane as fuel sources). Ethane is usually stripped from the gas stream, converted to ethene where chemical plants (like Exxon in BR) produce other plastics like polyethylene, polystyrene, etc.
Posted on 1/5/20 at 11:26 pm to TDsngumbo
I'm not claiming to be smarter/drunker/higher than you, but yes everything we know to exist is finite, quarks, gluons, all that shite. Including Earth.
Unless someone smarter than me figures out how to:
A) get helium out of Sol
B) get fresh hydrogen into Sol
C) do it at precisely the correct rate to keep Sol as a G class star,
then in about 4 billion years it will leave the Main Sequence and expand into a morbidly obese, trashy star with no habitability zone for Terrestrial life. It will just suck.
The Milky Way Galaxy isn't immortal either. First, it'll merge with 2 other large galaxies and won't be recognizable as a distinct galaxy. Eventually, the stellar nurseries in the resultant super galaxy are spent, no new stars ignite to replace the old ones. Then, it'll be a race between the super blackholes evaporating and the red dwarves flickering out. The future is exciting.
But if someone does figure out the A, B and C then, we should be good for while.
Unless someone smarter than me figures out how to:
A) get helium out of Sol
B) get fresh hydrogen into Sol
C) do it at precisely the correct rate to keep Sol as a G class star,
then in about 4 billion years it will leave the Main Sequence and expand into a morbidly obese, trashy star with no habitability zone for Terrestrial life. It will just suck.
The Milky Way Galaxy isn't immortal either. First, it'll merge with 2 other large galaxies and won't be recognizable as a distinct galaxy. Eventually, the stellar nurseries in the resultant super galaxy are spent, no new stars ignite to replace the old ones. Then, it'll be a race between the super blackholes evaporating and the red dwarves flickering out. The future is exciting.
But if someone does figure out the A, B and C then, we should be good for while.
Posted on 1/6/20 at 12:34 am to Woodreaux
It’s gonna be so cool watching all that shite from eternity.
Posted on 1/6/20 at 1:32 am to Woodreaux
You could have just said second law of thermodynamics.
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