What is entropy and how is it used in chemistry?

Entropy (S) is a measure of disorder in a system. Any process, in this case a chemical reaction, is said to entropically favoured if the overall disorder in the system increases. This is usually when there is a net increase in the number of molecules, or the products of the reaction are in a more disordered state - for example, gas instead of solid. This can be used to find if a reaction is feasible at a given temperature, using Gibbs Free Energy (G), which is found by the equation G=dH-TdS, where dH, dS and T are the enthalpy change, entropy change, and temperature respectively. If the value for G is found to be negative, the reaction will occur spontaneously.

KS
Answered by Kashf S. Chemistry tutor

3061 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

An acid can be either strong or weak, explain the difference between strong and weak acids.


What are the three pieces of evidence that disprove the Kekulé model of Benzene?


Why does silicon dioxide have a higher melting point than sulphur?


Describe a simple way to distinguish between aqueous solutions of potassium nitrate (KNO3) and potassium sulfate (K2SO4) using one test tube reaction


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning