[Calebowns]

Hi all,

I had a quick question for personal information/studies.

How would YOU define entropy? Simple, more in depth, extreme, using real life examples, etc. I'm just looking to get a better understanding of the concept overall. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. (I understand that I could totally google it, however, I like the personally knowledge the individual holds and how THEY chose to understand it) 

Thanks!

Note: I have read/researched it, I've watched videos, so I have a fair grasp on the concept. I just want to see how you all view/understand the topic personally.

[Corribus]

I posted this in another thread some time ago but it briefly summarizes the way I view entropy.

Entropy [is] a measure of how energy is statistically distributed. There is a natural tendency for energy to be "spread out", which we call maximizing entropy. (Colloquially we may call this "chaos" or "disorder", but that's not particularly scientific.) In a chemical system there is a kind of force that directs the system toward a state of maximum distribution (spatial, if it's simple to think of it that way) of energy. However a change in entropy doesn't necessarily mean the energy of the system has changed, just the way it is distributed in the system. For example, an expanding ideal gas that loses or gains no energy will still exhibit a significant gain in entropy, because the system's energy gets spread out over a larger area.

Actually, the concept of entropy as a force can be quite useful. I discussed a little more here, and you may also check out the link embedded in that post.

[Meter]

I posted this in another thread some time ago but it briefly summarizes the way I view entropy.

Entropy [is] a measure of how energy is statistically distributed. There is a natural tendency for energy to be "spread out", which we call maximizing entropy. (Colloquially we may call this "chaos" or "disorder", but that's not particularly scientific.) In a chemical system there is a kind of force that directs the system toward a state of maximum distribution (spatial, if it's simple to think of it that way) of energy. However a change in entropy doesn't necessarily mean the energy of the system has changed, just the way it is distributed in the system. For example, an expanding ideal gas that loses or gains no energy will still exhibit a significant gain in entropy, because the system's energy gets spread out over a larger area.

Actually, the concept of entropy as a force can be quite useful. I discussed a little more here, and you may also check out the link embedded in that post.

I agree with this definition. Since day one of university chemistry, I have tried to view it as a statistical description rather as a measure of "chaos" or "disorder", which is qualitative at best. Do you know any chemical reactions where entropy decreases as the number of particles increases? Just as a counterexample.