Unit 3.7 - Entropy and the feasibility of reactions Flashcards
What term do we use if a reaction can happen?
Feasible
Spontaneous reactions
Reactions that happen easily, on their own accord without outside interference
Example of a spontaneous reaction
Group 1 + water
Examples of reactions that need happen (are feasible but not spontaneous)
Rusting
Food oxidations
Examples of reactions that are not feasible (don’t happen)
Platinum in water
Br2 + 2Cl-
What affects the feasibility of a reaction?
The change in energy - going down an energy gradient
The activation energy
What do both the change in energy and activation energy affect for a reaction?
Its feasibility
What type of reactions seem to be feasible and what type of reactions less so?
Feasible —> exothermic reactions
Less feasible —> endothermic reactions
Why are endothermic reactions not favourable?
Products are less stable than the reactants
Give 2 examples of spontaneous endothermic reactions
-sodium hydrogencarbonate and hydrochloric acid reacting in the cold
-ionic substances dissolving in water at room temperature
What type of reaction is diamond burning in oxygen?
Very exothermic
Diamond burning in oxygen is a very exothermic reaction, so why doesn’t it happen spontaneously?
The presence of strong covalent bonds in diamond means that it takes a lot of energy to break apart the carbon atoms in diamond in order to free them up to burn with oxygen = very high temperature needed
What is another factor that we need to determine whether a reaction is feasible, on top of just knowing the enthalpy change?
Entropy
What 2 things do we need to know in order to determine whether a reaction is feasible?
Enthalpy change
Entropy
Symbol for entropy
S
What is entropy?
A quantitative measurement of the freedom of molecules - a measure of disorder
S meaning
Entropy
Units of entropy
JK-1mol-1
Name and explain the 3 things that affect the value of entropy
The more disordered a substance, the higher the entropy
Temperature
Entropy will also generally be higher if there are more moles or more complicated molecules
What does a more disordered substance do to the value of the entropy?
Increases it
What is another thing that increases entropy except for being a disordered substance?
Entropy will generally be higher if there are more moles or more complicated molecules
example of entropy increasing for a more complicated molecule
CO2>CO in terms of entropy
Put solid liquid and gas in order of increasing entropy
S (solid) < S (liquid) < S (gas)
why do solids have low entropy values?
Highly ordered particles
Why do gases have the highest entropy values?
Most disorganised particles