http://www.ck12.org Chapter 20. Entropy and Free Energy
CHAPTER
(^20) Entropy and Free Energy
Chapter Outline
20.1 Entropy
20.2 SPONTANEOUSREACTIONS ANDFREEENERGY
20.3 FREEENERGY ANDEQUILIBRIUM
20.4 REFERENCES
The object of the popular Rubik’s cube puzzle is to rotate the pieces until each side of the cube is one of the six
solid colors. It’s not easy. Now imagine trying to do it blindfolded—randomly turning the pieces this way and that
way. Do you think you would ever solve it? It is highly unlikely that would ever be the case. In nature, randomness
or disorder is the more natural state of things. It takes energy, hard work, and perseverance, to put things in order.
Disorder is also preferable in chemical systems and is one of the keys, along with energy, to determining whether
reactions and other processes are likely to occur at all. In this chapter, you will learn about the thermodynamic
quantities of entropy and free energy, and their relationship to chemical reactivity.
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