Answer:
Can you rank the following chemical substances in order of their absolute entropies (So) from lowest (1) to highest (5) at a temperature of 298 K?
a. Al (s)
b. H2O (l)
c. HCN (g)
d. CH3COOH (l)
e. C2H6 (g)
Explanation:
Entropy quantifies the level of disorder within a system.
In solids, the entropy is significantly lower compared to liquids and gases.
The typical order of entropy is:
solids < liquids < gases
In the substances listed, liquid water notably exhibits strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding.
This results in water having comparatively lower entropy.
Next in line is acetic acid.
Among the gaseous components, ethane has higher entropy than HCN due to its weaker intermolecular interactions.
HCN involves some hydrogen bonding.
Thus, the order of entropy is:
Al(s) < CH3COOH (l) < H2O(l) < HCN(g) < C2H6(g)