THERMOCHEMISTRY - Second and third laws: Entropy and Spontaneity

17 important questions on THERMOCHEMISTRY - Second and third laws: Entropy and Spontaneity

Is enthalpy alone a criterion of spontaneity?

No, there are more things that involve spontaneity

T/F is entropy closely related to probability?

True, it is related to the number of possible microstates that a system can adopt

What is a microstate?

It is the one of huge number of different arrangements of molecules
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Is Entropy a state of function?

Yes it is, it does not matter how it came to be, just what it is in the present

Can entropy (S) be absolutely evaluated?

Yes it can, unlike energy and enthalpy

Is the entropy higher for larger or smaller atoms/molecules of the same type?

  • It is larger
    • because there is a lot more room to be random

T/F does compound of S increase with chemical complexity?

  • True
    • Because there are alot more atoms to rearrange
    • molecules have more freedom to move

What is the change in entropy?

  • ΔS = S(final) - S(initial)
    • solid -> liquid (fusion)
    • sans-serifliquid -> gas (evaporation)
    • solid -> gas (sublimation)

If there is no phase change, what dictates the entropy?

  • Temperature would dictate entropy
    • When T increases = ΔS >0
    • Kinetic energy Increase = more motion = more disorder

What is the second law of thermodynamics?

"All spontaneous process produce an increase in the entropy of the universe."
  • In a spontaneous process, the entropy of the universe tends to increase
  • ΔS(univ) = ΔS(sys)+ ΔS(sur) > 0

What is the third law of thermodynamics?

  • The entropy of a pure perfect crystal is 0K is ZERO
    • There is no disorder in a perfect system

What is the equation for the entropy of a reaction?

ΔS = nS(prod) - nS(reac)

When you see a negative sign of ΔS is the given reaction always nonspontaneous?

No, this not always the case.
  • Examples in which this is not the case!
    1. liquid freezes below 0 (spontaneous)
    2. ΔS<0    liquid -> solid (reverse of fusion)

How to determine the ΔS(surr)?

  • The sign depends on the direction of the heat flow!
    • ENDOTHERMIC : ΔH(sys) >0
      • heat from surroundings declines
      • entropy of surroundings decline
    • EXOTHERMIC : ΔH(sys) < 0
      • heat in surroundings increases
      • entropy of surroundings increases

When finding the magnitude of ΔS(sur), what formula do we use?

This is the formula

What is free energy?

A thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum reversible work that may be performed by a system at constant TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE

What is the equation for when ΔS(univ) is spontaneous?

ΔS(univ)  > 0 : spontaneous

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