Entropy Explained: Why Disorder Always Grows

Entropy is a measure of disorder or randomness in a system.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics says entropy in the universe always increases overall.
A tidy room tends to get messy over time—that’s entropy at work.
Heat spreading from hot coffee into cool air is another entropy example.
Energy naturally disperses, making ordered states less likely and disordered states more likely.
Entropy explains why some processes, like unmixing cream from coffee, are impossible.
It gives time its “arrow”—we remember the past, not the future.
Living things fight entropy locally by using energy, but they add disorder to the surroundings.
Entropy isn’t just chaos—it’s also information about how many ways particles can be arranged.
From melting ice to the fate of stars, entropy drives the universe toward greater disorder.