Confused about statistical entropy and thermodynamic entropy

[touqra]

I am confused about statistical entropy and thermodynamic entropy. Are they actually the same?

 

[dextercioby]

Nope, but one leads to another...

I'll let you see which leads to the other.

Daniel.

 

[astrokreng]

No, statistical entropy and thermodynamic entropy are not the same. While both concepts involve measuring the amount of disorder or randomness in a system, they are approached from different perspectives and have slightly different definitions.

Statistical entropy, also known as Boltzmann entropy, is a measure of the number of microstates (or possible arrangements of particles) that a system can have for a given macrostate (or observable properties such as energy, volume, and number of particles). It is based on statistical mechanics, which uses probability distributions to describe the behavior of a large number of particles in a system. Statistical entropy is a theoretical concept that is often used in the study of thermodynamics and can be used to calculate the thermodynamic entropy of a system.

Thermodynamic entropy, on the other hand, is a macroscopic property that is defined in terms of the heat flow and temperature of a system. It is a measure of the energy dispersal or randomness in a system and is often described as the "arrow of time" because it tends to increase over time in isolated systems. Unlike statistical entropy, thermodynamic entropy is a measurable quantity and is often used to describe the efficiency of energy conversion processes.

In summary, while both statistical entropy and thermodynamic entropy deal with the concept of disorder or randomness, they are different concepts that are approached from different perspectives and have different applications in science. It is important to understand the distinctions between these two concepts in order to properly apply them in scientific research and analysis.