Chemistry I / Entropy and the Second Law
Practice question · Match the pairs

Match each entropy expression to what it describes.

  • ΔS=qrev/T\Delta S = q_{rev}/T
  • S=klnWS = k \ln W
  • ΔSuniverse>0\Delta S_{universe} > 0
  • S=0S = 0 at 0 K
  • The condition for a process to be spontaneous
  • The absolute origin of the entropy scale
  • The thermodynamic definition, via reversible heat
  • The statistical definition, via microstate counting
Hints
  1. Two are definitions, one is a criterion, one is a reference point.
  2. The counting definition is Boltzmann’s.
Show the answer
  • ΔS=qrev/T\Delta S = q_{rev}/T The thermodynamic definition, via reversible heat
  • S=klnWS = k \ln W The statistical definition, via microstate counting
  • ΔSuniverse>0\Delta S_{universe} > 0 The condition for a process to be spontaneous
  • S=0S = 0 at 0 K The absolute origin of the entropy scale
Why

The first two are independent definitions that agree exactly; the third is the spontaneity criterion; the fourth is the third law, which makes absolute entropies tabulatable.

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