Entropy (energy dispersal)
WordNet

noun


(1)   (thermodynamics) a thermodynamic quantity representing the amount of energy in a system that is no longer available for doing mechanical work
"Entropy increases as matter and energy in the universe degrade to an ultimate state of inert uniformity"
(2)   (communication theory) a numerical measure of the uncertainty of an outcome
"The signal contained thousands of bits of information"
WiktionaryText

Etymology


First attested in 1868. From German , coined in 1865 by Rudolph Clausius, from < + .

Noun


    1. strictly thermodynamic entropy. A measure of the amount of energy in a physical system which cannot be used to do mechanical work.
    2. A measure of the disorder present in a system (now becoming obsolete in chemistry http://www.entropysite.com/).
    3. The capacity factor for thermal energy that is hidden with respect to temperature http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0004055.
    4. The dispersal of energy; how much energy is spread out in a process, or how widely spread out it becomes, at a specific temperature. http://www.entropysite.com/students_approach.html
  1. A measure of the amount of information and noise present in a signal.
  2. The tendency of a system that is left to itself to descend into chaos.
 
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