Entropy

Help Questions

GRE Subject Test: Chemistry › Entropy

Questions 1 - 1
1

Which of the following reactions has a positive value for change in entropy ?

Water evaporates into water vapor

Water freezing into ice

A salt precipitates out of a saturated solution

Explanation

Entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system. In other words, when the components of a system become more uniform and spread out, the entropy of the system has increased. For example, when a liquid becomes gaseous, the molecules separate from one another, increasing the disorder of the system. As a result, the evaporation of water results in an increase in entropy.

All other options result in a more ordered system, which decreases entropy.

Return to subject