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So, what is entropy? It sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? It's a very important part of the second law of thermodynamics (we learned the first law last year in Chemistry): Entropy always increases. But, of course, that doesn't explain much, does it?

Entropy, simply put, has to do with the disorder in the universe. More specifically, you could say it as the molecular organization of an object become disordered, or energy flowing from places with a lot of energy to places with little energy. (Decreasing potential energy, if you're studying for the test tommorrow) Need an example? Let's take an ice cube in a glass of water. Accorrding to entropy, energy will flow from points of higher energy to lower energy. The room, so long as it's a reasonable temperature, is much warmer than your glass of water, correct? So, the warmth from the room will eventually warm up the cup and melt the ice cube. Eventually, the room and the ice cube will be at the same temperature. That's about it! Here's another example I read in a book about how it has to do with organization: say you have a puzzle depicting, say, Einstein. At first, all the puzzle pieces are in order and you can see Einstein's head. However, give it a little shake, and it begins to randomize. There are a bazillion ways that the puzzle pieces may be scattered and messed up, but there is only one way that is correct and "organized." Therefore, it is much easier to be disorganized than organized, or entropy. Hope you've learned something for today!

Links:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-entropy.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_entropy
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/therm/entrop.html