9.1 Introduction to Entropy

Identify the sign and relative magnitude of the entropy change associated with chemical or physical processes.

• Entropy increases when matter becomes more dispersed. For example, the phase change from solid to liquid or from liquid to gas results in a dispersal of matter as the individual particles become freer to move and generally occupy a larger volume. Similarly, for a gas, the entropy increases when there is an increase in volume (at constant temperature), and the gas molecules are able to move within a larger space. For reactions involving gas-phase reactants or products, the entropy generally increases when the total number of moles of gas-phase products is greater than the total number of moles of gas-phase reactants.
• Entropy increases when energy is dispersed. According to kinetic molecular theory (KMT), the distribution of kinetic energy among the particles of a gas broadens as the temperature increases. As a result, the entropy of the system increases with an increase in temperature.