All Flashcards
What is the effect of energy spreading out in a system?
The entropy of the system increases.
What happens to the entropy of a hot cup of coffee placed in a closed room?
The entropy of the coffee decreases as it cools, while the entropy of the room increases as it absorbs the heat.
What happens when a gas cools in a sealed container?
The entropy of the gas decreases as its molecules move slower and become more ordered.
What is the effect of expelling waste and taking in energy on a living organism's entropy?
The organism can decrease its internal entropy, but the total entropy of the universe still increases.
What is entropy?
A measure of the disorder or randomness in a system, or how much energy is spread out.
Define the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
The total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease; it can only increase or remain constant in ideal, reversible processes.
What is a state function?
A property of a system that depends only on the current state of the system, not on how it reached that state.
What is a closed system?
A system where energy can be exchanged with the surroundings, but matter cannot enter or leave.
What is an open system?
A system where both energy and matter can be exchanged with the surroundings.
What is thermodynamic equilibrium?
The state of a system where entropy is maximized and there is no net change in energy or matter.
What are the differences between open and closed systems regarding entropy?
Closed System: Entropy always increases over time. Open System: Entropy can decrease locally, but the total entropy of the universe still increases.
Differentiate between entropy increase and constant entropy.
Entropy Increase: Occurs naturally as energy spreads out in a system. Constant Entropy: Only happens in ideal reversible processes (rare).