Background image of landing

Unrivalled
Education
Solutions for your
Family

How is entropy change related to reaction reversibility?

Entropy change is intricately linked to the reversibility of chemical reactions. Reversible reactions typically exhibit an entropy change that approaches zero.

To elaborate, entropy serves as a quantitative measure of the disorder or randomness within a system. For a chemical reaction, the change in entropy, denoted as ΔS\Delta S, represents the difference in entropy between the products and the reactants. If the entropy of the products is greater than that of the reactants, the entropy change is positive, signifying an increase in disorder. Conversely, if the products have a lower entropy than the reactants, the entropy change is negative, indicating a decrease in disorder.

Reversible reactions are characterized by their ability to proceed in both forward and reverse directions. At equilibrium, the rates of the forward and reverse reactions are equal, resulting in constant concentrations of both reactants and products. In this state, the system achieves maximum disorder, or maximum entropy.

According to the second law of thermodynamics, the total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time; it remains constant only when all processes are reversible. For a reaction to be classified as reversible, the entropy change must be nearly zero. A significant positive entropy change suggests that the reaction predominantly favors the forward direction, while a substantial negative entropy change indicates a strong preference for the reverse direction. In either case, the reaction loses its reversibility.

In reality, however, no reaction is perfectly reversible. Some energy is invariably lost to the surroundings as heat, leading to an increase in the entropy of the surroundings. Consequently, the entropy change for a reversible reaction is close to zero, but never exactly zero. The concept of entropy change and its correlation with reaction reversibility is a fundamental principle of thermodynamics, essential for understanding a wide array of chemical reactions and processes.

Answered by: Prof. Sophie Harris
IB Chemistry Tutor
Medal Icon

100%

Globe Icon

Global

Crest Icon

97%

Professional Tutors

International Tuition

Independent School Entrance Success

All of our elite tutors are full-time professionals, with at least five years of tuition experience and over 5000 accrued teaching hours in their subject.

Based in Cambridge, with operations spanning the globe, we can provide our services to support your family anywhere.

Our families consistently gain offers from at least one of their target schools, including Eton, Harrow, Wellington and Wycombe Abbey.

Medal Icon

100%

Professional Tutors

All of our elite tutors are full-time professionals, with at least five years of tuition experience and over 5000 accrued teaching hours in their subject.

Globe Icon

Global

International Tuition

Based in Cambridge, with operations spanning the globe, we can provide our services to support your family anywhere.

Crest Icon

97%

Independent School Entrance Success

Our families consistently gain offers from at least one of their target schools, including Eton, Harrow, Wellington and Wycombe Abbey.

Book a free
30-minute consultation
session

At the Beyond Tutors we recognise that no two students are the same. 

That’s why we’ve transcended the traditional online tutoring model of cookie-cutter solutions to intricate educational problems. Instead, we devise a bespoke tutoring plan for each individual student, to support you on your path to academic success.

To help us understand your unique educational needs, we provide a free 30-minute consultation with one of our founding partners, so we can devise the tutoring plan that’s right for you.

To ensure we can best prepare for this consultation, we ask you to fill out the short form below.

Hire a Tutor

All the form fields are optional, but we ask you to provide as much information as possible so that we are in a better position to quickly meet your tutoring requirements.

Still have questions?
Let's get in touch