Good catch Mapes :) Must be this.Mapes said:Could your book have said that the change in entropy (mathematically, [itex]dS[/itex] rather than [itex]S[/itex]) is zero for small changes to a system in equilibrium?
Entropy is a measure of the randomness or disorder in a system. It is a thermodynamic property that describes the amount of energy that is unavailable for work in a system.
In a closed system, entropy tends to increase over time until it reaches a state of equilibrium, where the system is at maximum disorder. This is because energy naturally flows from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration, resulting in an increase in entropy.
According to the second law of thermodynamics, the total entropy of a closed system will always increase over time. However, it is possible for the entropy of a specific component within the system to decrease as long as the total entropy of the system increases.
Entropy is typically measured in units of joules per kelvin (J/K). It can also be measured in units of bits or bytes in information theory, where it represents the amount of uncertainty or randomness in a system.
Entropy and energy are inversely related. As entropy increases, the amount of energy available for work decreases. This is because a more disordered system has less usable energy, while a more ordered system has more usable energy.