![]() In this approach, the second law of thermodynamics is introduced as "Energy spontaneously disperses from being localized to becoming spread out if it is not hindered from doing so," often in the context of common experiences such as a rock falling, a hot frying pan cooling down, iron rusting, air leaving a punctured tyre and ice melting in a warm room. ![]() All explanations of where and how energy is dispersing or spreading have been recast in terms of energy dispersal, so as to emphasise the underlying qualitative meaning. Increase of entropy in a thermodynamic process can be described in terms of "energy dispersal" and the "spreading of energy," while avoiding mention of "disorder" except when explaining misconceptions. Īrieh Ben-Naim recommends abandonment of the word entropy, rejecting both the 'dispersal' and the 'disorder' interpretations instead he proposes the notion of "missing information" about microstates as considered in statistical mechanics, which he regards as commonsensical. Many of those who learned by practising calculations did not understand well the intrinsic meanings of equations, and there was a need for qualitative explanations of thermodynamic relationships. Even though courses emphasised microstates and energy levels, most students could not get beyond simplistic notions of randomness or disorder. The description of entropy as the amount of "mixedupness" or "disorder," as well as the abstract nature of the statistical mechanics grounding this notion, can lead to confusion and considerable difficulty for those beginning the subject. Students were being asked to grasp meanings directly contradicting their normal usage, with equilibrium being equated to "perfect internal disorder" and the mixing of milk in coffee from apparent chaos to uniformity being described as a transition from an ordered state into a disordered state. Not only does this situation cause confusion, but it also hampers the teaching of thermodynamics. ![]() Such descriptions have tended to be used together with commonly used terms such as disorder and randomness, which are ambiguous, and whose everyday meaning is the opposite of what they are intended to mean in thermodynamics. The term "entropy" has been in use from early in the history of classical thermodynamics, and with the development of statistical thermodynamics and quantum theory, entropy changes have been described in terms of the mixing or "spreading" of the total energy of each constituent of a system over its particular quantized energy levels. The concept has been used to facilitate teaching entropy to students beginning university chemistry and biology.Ĭomparisons with traditional approach Some educators propose that the energy dispersal idea is easier to understand than the traditional approach. Changes in entropy can be quantitatively related to the distribution or the spreading out of the energy of a thermodynamic system, divided by its temperature. In this alternative approach, entropy is a measure of energy dispersal or spread at a specific temperature. Guggenheim in 1949, using the word 'spread'. ![]() An early advocate of the energy dispersal conception was Edward A. The energy dispersal approach avoids the ambiguous term ' disorder'. In thermodynamics, the interpretation of entropy as a measure of energy dispersal has been exercised against the background of the traditional view, introduced by Ludwig Boltzmann, of entropy as a quantitative measure of disorder. Interpretation of entropy as a measure of the spread of energy
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |