![]() Entropy can thus be defined as a state of spontaneous change, bound to time and constantly increasing, which causes structural changes in the form of constitution, configuration, and conformation, and functional changes in the form of the ability to do work as well as informational changes in the form of the transmission of commands. Distribution of electronic charge changes in macromolecules over time, increasing the rotation of side-chain residues and thus increasing entropy and affecting potential in terms of structure, function, and information. In molecules with low potential, there are greater vibrational, rotational, and translational motions associated with decreased order in their constitution, configuration, and conformation. Molecules with high potential usually have rich sets of functions and information, which is due to the enrichment of their constitutions, configurations, and conformations. Potential energy represents order, while entropy represents disorder therefore, they are inversely proportional and intimately linked. Potential energy can be used to better understand the concept of entropy. In chemical and biochemical reactions, entropy plays a significant role in the directionality and spontaneity of the reactions. Various perspectives have been used to describe the concept, creating confusion and misconceptions. Entropy is a well-applied concept in many fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine. Granted, there are certain benefits of simplified statistical descriptions to better comprehend the randomness of thermal motion OPEN ACCESS Entropy 2014, 16 954 and related physical quantities, but the limitations should be stated so the generalizations are not overstretched and the real physics overlooked, or worse discredited.Ĭhemical and biochemical reactions are carried out either to generate energy or to produce useful macromolecules. Expanding entropy to any type of disorder or information is a source of many misconceptions. A system form and/or functional order or disorder are not (thermal) energy order/disorder and the former is not related to Thermodynamic entropy. The number of thermal microstates W, is correlated with macro-properties temperature T and volume V for ideal gases. It may be also expressed as a measure of " thermal disorder ", being related to logarithm of number of all thermal, dynamic microstates W (their position and momenta), S = k B lnW, or to the sum of their logarithmic probabilities S = −k B ∑p i lnp i, that correspond to, or are consistent with the given thermodynamic macro-state. Entropy is an integral measure of (random) thermal energy redistribution (due to heat transfer and/or irreversible heat generation) within a material system structure in space, per absolute temperature level: dS = dQ Sys /T = mC Sys dT/T, thus logarithmic integral function, with J/K unit. It is concluded that entropy is a thermal displacement (dynamic thermal-volume) of thermal energy due to absolute temperature as a thermal potential (dQ = TdS), and thus associated with thermal heat and absolute temperature, i.e., distribution of thermal energy within thermal micro-particles in space. It is also reasoned and thus proven why entropy cannot be destroyed but is always generated (and thus overall increased) locally and globally, at every space and time scales, without any exception. Irreversible, caloric heat transfer is introduced as complementing reversible heat transfer. The physical meaning of phenomenological, thermodynamic entropy is reasoned and elaborated by generalizing Clausius definition with inclusion of generated heat, since it is irrelevant if entropy is changed due to reversible heat transfer or irreversible heat generation. Further confusions are produced by some attempts to generalize entropy with similar but not the same concepts in other disciplines. Entropy is the most used and often abused concept in science, but also in philosophy and society.
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