If one is comfortable with the concept of entropy and its relentless upwards progression, then this section can be comfortably skipped. Otherwise, as a brief, somewhat novice run-down; entropy is a physical property of a thermodynamic system. It originated from Carnot’s engine and ideas. The work done by a Carnot cycle (eq.1) is described in two, independent ways – allowing us to equate them (eq.2).
This implies the existence of a state function in work divided by temperature (it is a meaningful, descriptive quantity to observe in a system). Clausius coined this quantity ‘entropy’ and mathematically observed its conservation over one of his cycles.
With a Clausius engine being the most efficient (theoretically) possible, it follows that all other engines must fall short of this Clausius work output (eq.3). This, rearranged in terms of our new quantity implies that the overall entropy (including both the system and its surroundings) always increases (eq.4).
In short, when entropy changes, it always increases when the universe is (system and surroundings are) considered.
The images seen in this section were creating in python using ManimCE
The Evolution of Physics in Finance
Completed by: Jake Wilkes, James Penston, Sam Jones and James Lundie.
© 2022 Physics in society project
