Physical significance of entropy or of the second law

by Joseph Frederic Klein

SECTION C
DETERMINATION OF A PRECISE, NUMERICAL, EXPRESSION FOR THE ENTROPY OF ANY PHYSICAL CONFIGURATION

PLANCK modestly says that everything essential in the determination of this expression has been done by L. BOLTZMANN, in his wide range of physical investigation. PLANCK'S discussion, however, is so compact and lucid that it is best suited for our purpose. Keeping this purpose in mind we will here also abbreviate by dispensing with parts of PLANCK'S fuller proof and content ourselves with the main steps which lead to the desired expression. These main steps are as follows:

(a) Determination of the general expression for the

of a given physical configuration of a known macroscopic state;

(b) Determination of the general expression for the Entropy

of a given physical configuration of a known macroscopic state;

(c) Special case of (b) namely, expression for the Entropy