Suppose we have an ice cube on the counter of a warm room. We expect to see the ice cube melt and the room to cool off a little. But is it possible that the ice cube might get colder with the room heating up (energy transferring from the ice cube to the room by heat)?

Question

rhystic · Answer

Technically there is no cold energy in terms of heat transfer. Basically the hotter object will transfer some heat to the less hotter object in order to obtain equilibrium, which is why the ice cube starts to melt. If the room was below the temperature of the ice cube then the ice cube would be the one giving off the heat to make the room reach the temperature of the ice cube.

irishboy123 · Answer

i think this is really about entropy and the 2nd law of thermodynamics and so, yes, it is totally  "possible", but spectacularly "improbable".

there is no Master Particle telling particles what to do and always telling them to do the same thing.  heat transfer is a completely random process, like most things really, but conducted on a scale where the outcome is very very very  predictable.

the overall "dispersal" of energy and matter is just the most likely statistical outcome.

anonymous · Answer

yes! thanks i got it right! It is about entropy