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In thermodynamics, a parameter representing the state of disorder of a system at the atomic, ionic, or molecular level; the greater the disorder the higher the entropy. [6] A measure of disorder in the universe or of the unavailability of the energy in a system to do work. [7] Entropy and disorder also have associations with equilibrium. [8]
Quantity (common name/s) (Common) symbol/s Defining equation SI unit Dimension Temperature gradient: No standard symbol K⋅m −1: ΘL −1: Thermal conduction rate, thermal current, thermal/heat flux, thermal power transfer
Figure 1. A thermodynamic model system. Differences in pressure, density, and temperature of a thermodynamic system tend to equalize over time. For example, in a room containing a glass of melting ice, the difference in temperature between the warm room and the cold glass of ice and water is equalized by energy flowing as heat from the room to the cooler ice and water mixture.
Informally, however, a difference in the energy of a system that occurs solely because of a difference in its temperature is commonly called heat, and the energy that flows across a boundary as a result of a temperature difference is "heat". Altitude (or elevation) is usually not a thermodynamic property.
The state of a thermodynamic system is specified by a number of extensive quantities, the most familiar of which are volume, internal energy, and the amount of each constituent particle (particle numbers). Extensive parameters are properties of the entire system, as contrasted with intensive parameters which can be defined at a single point ...
The basic definition of "energy" is a measure of a body's (in thermodynamics, the system's) ability to cause change. For example, when a person pushes a heavy box a few metres forward, that person exerts mechanical energy, also known as work, on the box over a distance of a few meters forward.
The entropy of a system depends on its internal energy and its external parameters, such as its volume. In the thermodynamic limit, this fact leads to an equation relating the change in the internal energy to changes in the entropy and the external parameters. This relation is known as the fundamental thermodynamic relation.
In thermodynamics, a change in the thermodynamic state of a system and all of its surroundings cannot be precisely restored to its initial state by infinitesimal changes in some property of the system without expenditure of energy. A system that undergoes an irreversible process may still be capable of returning to its initial state.