Some Examples
- A free proton and free electron will tend to combine to form the lowest energy state (the ground state) of a hydrogen atom, the most stable configuration. This is because that state's energy is 13.6 electron volts (eV) lower than when the two particles separated by an infinite distance. The dissipation in this system takes the form of spontaneous emission of electromagnetic radiation, which increases the entropy of the surroundings.
- A rolling ball will end up stationary at the bottom of a hill, the point of minimum potential energy. The reason is that as it rolls downward under the influence of gravity, friction produced by its motion adds to the heat of the surroundings with an attendant increase in entropy.
- A protein folds into the state of lowest potential energy. In this case, the dissipation takes the form of vibration of atoms within or adjacent to the protein.
Read more about this topic: Minimum Total Potential Energy Principle
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