Question

Ice that is added to water melts. The water molecules become less ordered until both the water and ice are at one phase and equilibrium is reached. When this occurs, the molecules are randomly distributed. What happens to the entropy as the system approaches equilibrium?
A. The entropy is near its minimum.
B. The entropy does not change.
C. The entropy is near its maximum.
D. The system cannot approach equilibrium

Answer 1

As the system approaches equilibrium, entropy is near its maximum.

The entropy is said to be the degree of disorderliness of a system. Ice is a crystal in which the molecules are perfectly ordered so its entropy is at a minimum.

As ice melts, the molecules gain more energy and separate from each other. There is now an increase of particles in the system leading to an increase in entropy.

Hence, when the system is at equilibrium, entropy is at a maximum.

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