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From the prefix en-, as in 'energy', and from the Greek word τροπή [tropē], which is translated in an established lexicon as turning or change [7] and that he rendered in German as Verwandlung, a word often translated into English as transformation, in 1865 Clausius coined the name of that property as entropy. [8] The word was adopted ...
The relationship between entropy, order, and disorder in the Boltzmann equation is so clear among physicists that according to the views of thermodynamic ecologists Sven Jorgensen and Yuri Svirezhev, "it is obvious that entropy is a measure of order or, most likely, disorder in the system."
where S is the entropy of the system, k B is the Boltzmann constant, and Ω the number of microstates. At absolute zero there is only 1 microstate possible ( Ω = 1 as all the atoms are identical for a pure substance, and as a result all orders are identical as there is only one combination) and ln ( 1 ) = 0 {\displaystyle \ln(1)=0} .
The word 'entropy' has entered popular usage to refer to a lack of order or predictability, or of a gradual decline into disorder. [1] A more physical interpretation of thermodynamic entropy refers to spread of energy or matter, or to extent and diversity of microscopic motion.
This entropic force is proportional to the distance between the two ends. [5] [7] The entropic force by a freely jointed chain has a clear mechanical origin and can be computed using constrained Lagrangian dynamics. [8] With regards to biological polymers, there appears to be an intricate link between the entropic force and function.
On the diagram one can see the quantity called capacity for entropy. This quantity is the amount of entropy that may be increased without changing an internal energy or increasing its volume. [9] In other words, it is a difference between maximum possible, under assumed conditions, entropy and its actual entropy.
The term "entropy" has been in use from early in the history of classical thermodynamics, and with the development of statistical thermodynamics and quantum theory, entropy changes have been described in terms of the mixing or "spreading" of the total energy of each constituent of a system over its particular quantized energy levels.
It is in this sense that entropy is a measure of the energy in a system that cannot be used to do work. An irreversible process degrades the performance of a thermodynamic system, designed to do work or produce cooling, and results in entropy production. The entropy generation during a reversible process is zero. Thus entropy production is a ...