Timeline for Why is "h" used for entropy?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 23, 2011 at 4:08 | comment | added | Michael Hardy | The etymology given in OED suggests that "trope" is Greek for "turing", and I wonder if that means "turning" in the sense of available energy "turning into" unavailable energy. It goes on to suggest that the initial "en-" was intended to parallel the "en-" in "energy", which is derived in part from "erg" which is related to "work". I thought it was a useful mnemonic to think that "H" is the capital "eta", but the etymology says the initial "e" actually comes from epsilon, not eta. So maybe it's a useful mnemonic. Except that I never needed a mnemonic for this. | |
| Nov 22, 2011 at 22:57 | history | edited | Ilmari Karonen | CC BY-SA 3.0 | added 1113 characters in body |
| Nov 22, 2011 at 22:27 | vote | accept | Quinn Culver | ||
| Nov 22, 2011 at 22:26 | comment | added | Quinn Culver | The connection between H and capital eta seems most plausible. Thanks. | |
| Nov 22, 2011 at 22:22 | history | edited | Ilmari Karonen | CC BY-SA 3.0 | added 1126 characters in body |
| Nov 22, 2011 at 22:07 | history | edited | Ilmari Karonen | CC BY-SA 3.0 | added 478 characters in body |
| Nov 22, 2011 at 22:05 | comment | added | Quinn Culver | Yes, it does just change the question. I'll edit accordingly. Thanks though. | |
| Nov 22, 2011 at 21:59 | history | answered | Ilmari Karonen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |