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Thermodynamic Entropy and Its Relation to Probability in Classical Mechanics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Kevin Davey
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Abstract

A gas relaxing into equilibrium is often taken to be a process in which a system moves from an “improbable” to a “probable” state. Given that the thermodynamic entropy increases during such a process, it is natural to conjecture that the thermodynamic entropy is a measure of the probability of a macrostate. For nonideal classical gases, however, I claim that there is no clear sense in which the thermodynamic entropy of a macrostate measures its probability. We must therefore reject the idea that (in classical mechanics) thermodynamic entropy and probability are connected in a deep and general way.

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Type
Research Article
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Philosophy of Science , Volume 78 , Issue 5 , December 2011 , pp. 955 - 975
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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