Story Four Physics - First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics considers the effects of work, heat and energy on a system. The First Law states that the total energy of a closed system remains constant (the conservation of energy). The Second Law, as it applies to heat, states that energy, in the form of heat, cannot naturally flow from a colder location to a hotter location. The book also introduces how the speed that heat flows in a medium is a function of the temperature gradient in the medium.
How the physics is depicted
The Beeteeyoos represent energy. They do not die or give birth which aligns with the conservation of energy (First Law). The story uses color as analogy for temperature with blue representing cold and red hot. The Beeteeyoos constant pursuit of the cool color blue is analogous to heat naturally flowing to cooler temperatures. If the temperatures change is high over a short distance, the “gradient” is steep which speeds the flow of heat. This is illustrated in the adjacent image. Think of rolling a ball down a hill, if the hill is steep (high gradient), the ball rolls faster than it would rolling down a hill that is less steep (low gradient).
More than you wanted to know …
Planet Entropy is named after a thermodynamic property. Entropy is a measure of disorder, or the amount of energy which is no longer available to do work. As energy flows to cooler regions, the amount of entropy increases.
BTU stands for British Thermal Unit which is a unit used in measuring an amount of energy.