Introduction to entropy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:49, 21 December 2020

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The macrostate of a system is what we know about the system, for example the [[temperature]], [[pressure]], and [[volume (thermodynamics)|volume]] of a gas in a box. For each set of values of temperature, pressure, and volume there are many arrangements of molecules which result in those values. The number of arrangements of molecules which could result in the same values for temperature, pressure and volume is the number of microstates.

The concept of information entropy has been developed to describe any of several phenomena, depending on the field and the context in which it is being used. [[InformationWhen entropy]]it takesis applied to the mathematicalproblem conceptsof a large number of [[statisticalinteracting thermodynamics]]particles, intoalong areaswith some other constraints, like the conservation of [[probabilityenergy, and the assumption that all microstates are equally likely, the resultant theory]] unconnectedof withstatistical heatmechanics andis energyextremely successful in explaining the [[laws of thermodynamics]].

[[Image:Ice water.jpg|thumb|Ice melting provides an example of entropy ''increasing'']]