Entropy is a state of disorder, confusion, and disorganization.
[technical]
entropy in British English
(ˈɛntrəpɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-pies
1.
a thermodynamic quantity that changes in a reversible process by an amount equal to the heat absorbed or emitted divided by the thermodynamic temperature. It is measured in joules per kelvin
Symbol: S. See also law of thermodynamics
2.
a statistical measure of the disorder of a closed system expressed by S = klog P + c where P is the probability that a particular state of the system exists, k is the Boltzmann constant, and c is another constant
3.
lack of pattern or organization; disorder
4.
a measure of the efficiency of a system, such as a code or language, in transmitting information
Word origin
C19: from en-2 + -trope
entropy in American English
(ˈɛntrəpi)
noun
1.
a thermodynamic measure of the amount of energy unavailable for useful work in a system undergoing change
2.
a measure of the degree of disorder in a substance or a system: entropy always increases and available energy diminishes in a closed system, as the universe
3.
in information theory, a measure of the information content of a message evaluated as to its uncertainty
4.
a process of degeneration marked variously by increasing degrees of uncertainty, disorder, fragmentation, chaos, etc.; specif., such a process regarded as the inevitable, terminal stage in the life of a social system or structure
Derived forms
entropic (enˈtropic) (ˈɛnˈtrɑpɪk)
adjective
Word origin
Ger entropie, arbitrary use (by R. J. E. Clausius, 1822-88, Ger physicist) of Gr entropē, a turning toward, as if < Ger en(ergie), energy + Gr tropē, a turning: see trope
Examples of 'entropy' in a sentence
entropy
The latter can be measured by the employment entropy index.
Forstner, Helmut, Ballance, Robert Competing in a Global Economy (1990)
But the earth has the added ability to produce entropy in large amounts through atmospheric chemistry.
Oliver Morton Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet (2007)
If the earth were a closed system this ceaseless production of entropy could not persist.
Oliver Morton Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet (2007)
Without defined concepts of energy and entropy you cannot measure the difficulty or ease of changing the world.
Oliver Morton Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet (2007)
They will have reached maximum entropy.
Schneider, Hermann & Schneider, Leo The Harper Dictionary of Science in Everyday Language (1988)
They have used something called entropy, which measures the uncertainty in a random variable.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
They also explain more than half of the variation in the entropy index for all industries other than footwear and petroleum and coal products.
Forstner, Helmut, Ballance, Robert Competing in a Global Economy (1990)
But he did argue that the earth's atmosphere showed that there was a lot of entropy being produced.
Oliver Morton Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet (2007)
Thus the gap between the maximum possible entropy and the true entropy of our universe continually widens, as shown in figure 2.4.