Entropy (order and disorder)
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
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- strictly thermodynamic entropy. A measure of the amount of energy in a physical system which cannot be used to do mechanical work.
- A measure of the disorder present in a system (now becoming obsolete in chemistry http://www.entropysite.com/).
- The capacity factor for thermal energy that is hidden with respect to temperature http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0004055.
- 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
- A measure of the amount of information and noise present in a signal.
- The tendency of a system that is left to itself to descend into chaos.