Maxwell's demon
- noun
- /ˈmækswɛlz ˈdimən/
- Specialized
:
demonio de Maxwell
- Researchers built a nanoscale setup that acts as a Maxwell's demon, converting information into work.
Examples
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The lab demonstrated a feedback-controlled engine functioning like a Maxwell's demon in the experiment.
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Their paper explains how the device qualifies as an experimental Maxwell's demon under precise measurement protocols.
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In physics, Maxwell's demon illustrates how information can decrease entropy.
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Many scientists study Maxwell's demons to understand thermodynamics better.
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The researchers developed a device that functions as a Maxwell's demon, using feedback to reduce entropy in a thermal system.
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The team published findings on their experimental Maxwell's demon, which harnessed information to perform work efficiently.
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In advanced physics courses, students learn about Maxwell's demon and its role in illustrating the concepts of entropy and information.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Maxwell's + demon
This is an eponymous technical term named after the physicist James Clerk Maxwell; a B1 learner who knows 'Maxwell's' as a name and 'demon' as a supernatural being will not be able to infer the specialized physics meaning about measurement, feedback, and entropy. The sense is domain-specific and metaphorical in a technical way, requiring prior scientific knowledge, so it is not derivable from its parts.
Etymology
Maxwell's demon also names a real experimental 'device' or setup that acts like the imagined creature. In labs, scientists build tiny systems that measure molecules and use that information to move energy or reduce disorder, so they call these setups Maxwell's demons because they copy the original story's trick.
