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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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
an imaginary creature that controls a small hole in a partition that divides a chamber filled with gas into two parts and allows fast molecules to move in one direction and slow molecules to move in the other direction through the hole; this would result in one part of the container becoming warmer and the other cooler, thus decreasing entropy and violating the second law of thermodynamics
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: imaginary being, imaginary creature
Named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) and demon, and probably from Greek daemon, a mythological being intermediate between gods and men.
Across languages
Translations
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
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Catalan:
dimoni de Maxwell
— Hypothetical creature
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Chinese Mandarin:
麥克斯韋妖 /麦克斯韦妖
(màikèsīwéiyāo)
— Hypothetical creature
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Finnish:
Maxwellin demoni
— Hypothetical creature
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German:
Maxwellscher Dämon
— Hypothetical creature
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Hungarian:
Maxwell-démon
— Hypothetical creature
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Japanese:
マクスウェルの悪魔)
(Makusuweru No Akuma)
— Hypothetical creature
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Korean:
맥스웰의 도깨비
(Maekseuwerui dokkaebi)
— Hypothetical creature
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Polish:
demon Maxwella
— Hypothetical creature
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Spanish:
demonio de Maxwell
— Hypothetical creature
