Final answer:
The aspect of the cell that obeys the second law of thermodynamics is entropy, the measure of disorder, which increases over time as energy is lost in transfers or transformations, contributing to the increased entropy of the universe.
Step-by-step explanation:
The aspect of the cell that obeys the second law of thermodynamics, which is the tendency toward disorder, is related to the concept of entropy. While it might appear that the growth of life forms, from a single cell to a complex organism like a human, is an ordering process that defies this law, it is actually compensated for by an increase in disorder elsewhere in the universe, resulting in an overall increase in entropy. Living cells and organisms maintain a state of low entropy, or high order, by constantly investing energy, but this process contributes to increased entropy in the surroundings since energy is lost as heat in energy transfers or transformations.
Entropy is indeed a scientific measure of randomness or disorder within a system, with high entropy indicating high disorder and lower energy availability for doing work. The second law of thermodynamics states that in any energy transfer or transformation, energy will be lost as heat, contributing to the increased entropy of the universe. For instance, as molecules diffuse from an area of high concentration to a more spread out state, the entropy increases, which is an observable manifestation of the second law in chemical reactions and biological processes.