Name a single (1) instance of a physical or chemical process where you need the concept of entropy.
Lets define entropy first (in SI units of course)
>S = k_b ln ?
Or in less pretentious, and more understandable terms:
>Entropy is the number of states a defined system can have. E.g. a thrown dice which isn't observed has entropy 6.
Now, alongside with entropy, a fancy statement is often procured:
>Entropy of a system never decreases over time
And again, in less pretentious, and more understandable terms:
>We have defined a probability distribution for a system and it obeys it. E.g. a dice will produce 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 in equal proportions (namely 1/6 each) if it is thrown enough many times. E.g. a glass of water at room temperature will not form a solid, because it would be very unlikely.
Here are physical facts:
1. Systems (e.g. a system of one proton and one electron) have finite number of possible states.
2. Each state has a specific energy (e.g. lowest energy state for electron to be is on the 1s orbital).
3. Just because a state A has lower energy than state B, it doesn't mean that the electron spends all of its time in state A. Instead, the wave function of the system determines the probability distribution where the electron 'is'. The following statements are completely equivalent: "Electron spends X% of time in state A.", "There is a X% chance to observe electron in state A", "The existence of electron is X% spread to state A (whatever this gibberish philosophically means)."
There's nothing else really to it. Entropy is just a concept that seeks to dismiss the wave functions of systems. The lethal blow to the obsolete concept of entropy, defined by 19th century ape-humanoids, is that the entropy of a system CAN decrease, it's just very unlikely. Probably happens all the time at atomic level.
Lets define entropy first (in SI units of course)
>S = k_b ln ?
Or in less pretentious, and more understandable terms:
>Entropy is the number of states a defined system can have. E.g. a thrown dice which isn't observed has entropy 6.
Now, alongside with entropy, a fancy statement is often procured:
>Entropy of a system never decreases over time
And again, in less pretentious, and more understandable terms:
>We have defined a probability distribution for a system and it obeys it. E.g. a dice will produce 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 in equal proportions (namely 1/6 each) if it is thrown enough many times. E.g. a glass of water at room temperature will not form a solid, because it would be very unlikely.
Here are physical facts:
1. Systems (e.g. a system of one proton and one electron) have finite number of possible states.
2. Each state has a specific energy (e.g. lowest energy state for electron to be is on the 1s orbital).
3. Just because a state A has lower energy than state B, it doesn't mean that the electron spends all of its time in state A. Instead, the wave function of the system determines the probability distribution where the electron 'is'. The following statements are completely equivalent: "Electron spends X% of time in state A.", "There is a X% chance to observe electron in state A", "The existence of electron is X% spread to state A (whatever this gibberish philosophically means)."
There's nothing else really to it. Entropy is just a concept that seeks to dismiss the wave functions of systems. The lethal blow to the obsolete concept of entropy, defined by 19th century ape-humanoids, is that the entropy of a system CAN decrease, it's just very unlikely. Probably happens all the time at atomic level.
