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For an open thermodynamic system in which heat and work are transferred by paths separate from the paths for transfer of matter, using this generic balance equation, with respect to the rate of change with time of the extensive quantity entropy , the entropy balance equation is: [53] [54] [note 1] = = ˙ ^ + ˙ + ˙ where = ˙ ^ is the net rate ...
Research concerning the relationship between the thermodynamic quantity entropy and both the origin and evolution of life began around the turn of the 20th century. In 1910 American historian Henry Adams printed and distributed to university libraries and history professors the small volume A Letter to American Teachers of History proposing a theory of history based on the second law of ...
To highlight the fact that order and disorder are commonly understood to be measured in terms of entropy, below are current science encyclopedia and science dictionary definitions of entropy: A measure of the unavailability of a system's energy to do work; also a measure of disorder; the higher the entropy the greater the disorder. [4]
Entropy does not increase indefinitely. A body of matter and radiation eventually will reach an unchanging state, with no detectable flows, and is then said to be in a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. Thermodynamic entropy has a definite value for such a body and is at its maximum value.
Entropy is one of the few quantities in the physical sciences that require a particular direction for time, sometimes called an arrow of time. As one goes "forward" in time, the second law of thermodynamics says, the entropy of an isolated system can increase, but not decrease. Thus, entropy measurement is a way of distinguishing the past from ...
The concept of the number of microstates makes quantitative the ill-defined qualitative concepts of 'disorder' and the 'dispersal' of matter and energy that are used widely to introduce the concept of entropy: a more 'disorderly' distribution of energy and matter corresponds to a greater number of micro-states associated with the same total energy.
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 ...
Mathematically, the absolute entropy of any system at zero temperature is the natural log of the number of ground states times the Boltzmann constant k B = 1.38 × 10 −23 J K −1. The entropy of a perfect crystal lattice as defined by Nernst's theorem is zero provided that its ground state is unique, because ln(1) = 0.