English Explanatory Dictionary

Maxwell's demon

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A hypothetical creature in a thought experiment. Maxwell’s demon, if it existed, would act as a sort of gate guard by sorting between higher-energy molecules and lower-energy molecules within an enclosed space. Because such a sorting process would tend to decrease entropy, it would violate the second law of thermodynamics.

Word forms

Maxwell's demon Maxwell's demons

Etymology

Named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) and demon, and probably from Greek daemon, a mythological being intermediate between gods and men.

Related words

information engine perpetual motion machine of the second kind
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