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entropy (Topic)

Introduction

Entropy has a long and rich histroy in physics and was developed by many scientists over the years including Clausius, Maxwell, Boltzmann, Planck, Gibbs, Pauling and more recently Shannon and Hawking.  The applications of entropy are far and wide ranging from engines to black holes.  The concept of entropy was introduced by the German R. J. E. Clausius in 1854.

Definition

The classical definition of entropy relates the differential change of entropy to the differential change in heat at a given temperature during a reversible process:

$\displaystyle dS := \frac{dQ_{rev}}{T}; \quad S = \int\frac{dQ_{rev}}{T}$ (1)

The belief that entropy is a measure of the disorder of the system is a misconception.

Examples

Entropy, this entry is world editable, so feel free to contribute. Note please be courteous and document your changes with comments and discuss through posting.

References

Beginner

[1] Halliday, D., Resnick, R., Walker, J.: "fundamentals of physics".  5th Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1997.

Intermediate

[2] Kondepudi, D., Prigogine, I. "Modern Thermodynamics From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures" John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1998.

[3] Kittel, C., Kroemer, H. "Thermal Physics" Second Edition. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 1980.

Advanced

[4] Greven, A., Keller, G., Warncke, G. "Entropy" Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2003.



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"entropy" is owned by bloftin. [ full author list (4) ]

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See Also: Statistical Entropy, temperature


Cross-references: Thermodynamics, fundamentals of physics, system, reversible process, temperature, heat, concept, black holes
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This is version 9 of entropy, born on 2006-02-01, modified 2008-03-20.
Object id is 112, canonical name is Entropy.
Accessed 2499 times total.

Classification:
Physics Classification05.70.-a (Thermodynamics )

Pending Errata and Addenda
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Discussion
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Entropy, entry of the month by bloftin on 2006-02-02 01:35:56
Entropy is now editable by anyone with an account.  Please help contribute, but be curtious to other authors, comment your changes and discuss freely through posts.

Remember many things can be added through attachments to the article like problems/exmaples/ and closely related items.

1st question to come to mind, who coined the term entropy?
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