熵 (shāng) — entropy (in physics and information theory)

Definition

Examples

• 热力学第二定律说，孤立系统的熵不会减少。
  Rè lì xué dì èr dìng lǜ shuō, gū lì xì tǒng de shāng bú huì jiǎn shǎo.
  The second law of thermodynamics says that the entropy of an isolated system never decreases.
• 随着温度升高，物质的熵也会增加。
  Suí zhe wēn dù shēng gāo, wù zhì de shāng yě huì zēng jiā.
  As the temperature rises, the entropy of the substance also increases.
• 信息论中，熵用来衡量不确定性。
  Xìn xī lùn zhōng, shāng yòng lái héng liáng bú què dìng xìng.
  In information theory, entropy is used to measure uncertainty.

Origin