Table 1.

List of possible spontaneous processes in equilibrium and steady-state systems, for monotonically varying parameters (terminology from ancient Greek: exo-, external; endo-, internal; pan-, everywhere; tropos, transformation (Clausius 1865); -genic, generating or producing).

case	conditions		entropic driving force	label	extrema at stationary position
equilibrium systems (kdϕeq = d(G/T) ≤ 0)
E1	dS* ≥ 0,	δσ ≥ 0	universal	panentropic	max S*,	max σ (= min H/T)
E2	dS* ≥ |δσ| ≥ 0,	δσ ≤ 0	internal dominant	endoentropic	max S*,	min σ (= max H/T)
E3	dS* ≤ 0,	δσ ≥ |dS*| ≥ 0	external dominant	exoentropic	min S*,	max σ (= min H/T)
steady-state systems (Kdϕst≤ 0 with K = k/θ)
S1	,		universal	panentropogenic	max ,	max
S2	,		internal dominant	endoentropogenic	max ,	min
S3	,		external dominant	exoentropogenic	min ,	max