Revisiting the physics of turning water into wine, a pedagogical approach

A. C. F. Santos

Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

The changing of water into wine at the Marriage at Cana is the earliest miracle credited to Jesus in the Gospel of John. In this paper, I calculate the change in the chemical potential across the reaction first suggested by Irwin, Hicks, and Lerman. Using the simple concepts from statistical physics is not only easier to get the message, but even High-school students can develop a deeper understanding of the process.