Why does matter self-organize when “shaken up” in some way?
I suppose the shortest version of my answer would be this: that when energy is put into a system resulting in “rearrangement” or “shuffling”, the result is not always random because the properties of the matter in question may cause interaction between the individual pieces. Here are a couple of examples. Take a jar of mixed nuts, and gently shake it for a while. When you reopen the jar, you will find that the larger nuts (like walnuts) are generally nearer the top, and the smaller ones (like peanuts) are mostly lower. This seems counterintuitive, at first. How can “randomly” mixing something cause order to spontaneously form? The answer has to do with physics, entropy etc. Basically you get more efficient packing (lower overall energy in the system) when smaller objects are at the bottom. But this is a fun example that demonstrates the principle, that anyone can do at home. A more technical example comes from polymer science. When certain polymers (diblock or triblock systems) are hea
