Entropy Demystified: The Second Law Reduced To Plain Common Sense (Second Edition)

"It can be used as a supplementary material for teaching thermodynamics and statistical physics at an undergraduate or postgraduate level and can be a great read for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Sciences and Engineering." Contemporary Physics In this unique book, the reader is invited to experience the joy of appreciating something which has eluded understanding for many years - entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The book has a two-pronged message: first, that the Second Law is not infinitely incomprehensible as commonly stated in most textbooks on thermodynamics, but can, in fact, be comprehended through sheer common sense; and second, that entropy is not a mysterious quantity that has resisted understanding but a simple, familiar and easily comprehensible concept. Written in an accessible style, the book guides the reader through an abundance of dice games and examples from everyday life. The author paves the way for readers to discover for themselves what entropy is, how it changes, and, most importantly, why it always changes in one direction in a spontaneous process. In this new edition, seven simulated games are included so that the reader can actually experiment with the games described in the book. These simulated games are meant to enhance the readers' understanding and sense of joy upon discovering the Second Law of Thermodynamics. All errors in the previous edition were corrected and a whole new section (7.7) has been added in which the meaning of entropy is explain in simple lanaguage.