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entropy
[ en-truh-pee ]
noun
- Thermodynamics.
- (on a macroscopic scale) a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition, and differing from energy in that energy is the ability to do work and entropy is a measure of how much energy is not available. The less work that is produced, the greater the entropy, so when a closed system is void of energy, the result is maximum entropy.
- (in statistical mechanics) a measure of the randomness of the microscopic constituents of a thermodynamic system. : S
- (in data transmission and information theory) a measure of the loss of information in a transmitted signal or message.
- (in cosmology) a hypothetical tendency for the universe to attain a state of maximum homogeneity in which all matter is at a uniform temperature heat death.
- a state of disorder, or a tendency toward such a state; chaos.
- a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.
entropy
/ ˈɛntrəpɪ /
noun
- a thermodynamic quantity that changes in a reversible process by an amount equal to the heat absorbed or emitted divided by the thermodynamic temperature. It is measured in joules per kelvin S See also law of thermodynamics
- a statistical measure of the disorder of a closed system expressed by S = k log P + c where P is the probability that a particular state of the system exists, k is the Boltzmann constant, and c is another constant
- lack of pattern or organization; disorder
- a measure of the efficiency of a system, such as a code or language, in transmitting information
entropy
/ ĕn′trə-pē /
- A measure of the amount of energy in a physical system not available to do work. As a physical system becomes more disordered, and its energy becomes more evenly distributed, that energy becomes less able to do work. For example, a car rolling along a road has kinetic energy that could do work (by carrying or colliding with something, for example); as friction slows it down and its energy is distributed to its surroundings as heat, it loses this ability. The amount of entropy is often thought of as the amount of disorder in a system.
- See also heat death
entropy
- A measure of the disorder of any system, or of the unavailability of its heat energy for work. One way of stating the second law of thermodynamics — the principle that heat will not flow from a cold to a hot object spontaneously — is to say that the entropy of an isolated system can, at best, remain the same and will increase for most systems. Thus, the overall disorder of an isolated system must increase.
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Notes
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Other Words From
- en·tro·pic [en-, troh, -pik, -, trop, -ik], adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of entropy1
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Example Sentences
Until Tuesday, Occupy Wall Street seemed, at least from the outside, to be entering a stage of entropy.
The summation is defined as the increase in entropy between the initial and the final states.
All organic life and movement must cease when this maximum of entropy has been reached.
The reader is therefore warned that the proper way to say it is, "the entropy of the universe tends to a maximum."
Mirrors of anti-entropy shifted, assumed different angles, and the Invincible sheered off.
When they pierced the anti-entropy, they would cut through the steel plates of the Invincible like so much paper!
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