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- DictionaryEn·tro·py/ˈentrəpē/
noun
- 1. a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system: "the second law of thermodynamics says that entropy always increases with time"
- 2. lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder: "a marketplace where entropy reigns supreme"
Entropy is a measure of the unavailable energy or disorder in a system, especially in thermodynamics and communication theory. Learn the etymology, examples, and related words of entropy from Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Entropy is the measure of the amount of missing information before reception. Often called Shannon entropy, it was originally devised by Claude Shannon in 1948 to study the size of information of a transmitted message. The definition of information entropy is expressed in terms of a discrete set of probabilities so that
Nov 28, 2021 · Entropy is a measure of the randomness or disorder of a system. Its symbol is the capital letter S. Typical units are joules per kelvin (J/K). Change in entropy can have a positive (more disordered) or negative (less disordered) value. In the natural world, entropy tends to increase.
May 29, 2024 · Entropy, the measure of a system’s thermal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work. Because work is obtained from ordered molecular motion, entropy is also a measure of the molecular disorder, or randomness, of a system.
Entropy definition: (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.
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Entropy is a measure of the amount of disorder or randomness in a system or process. Learn how to use the word in different contexts, such as physics, chemistry, and statistics, with examples and translations.
In thermodynamics, entropy is a numerical quantity that shows that many physical processes can go in only one direction in time. For example, cream and coffee can be mixed together, but cannot be "unmixed"; a piece of wood can be burned, but cannot be "unburned".
Entropy is a measure of the amount of disorder or lack of order in a system or process. Learn how entropy is used in physics, chemistry, and social science with examples and collocations.
Entropy is a measure of disorder based on the number of possible states of a system. Learn how entropy increases with randomness, gas expansion, and heat flow, and how it can decrease with work and order.
