Question

State whether entropy change is positive or negative in the following example:

Melting of ice

Answer 1

• Ice, in its solid state, has a highly ordered structure with lower entropy due to the strong hydrogen bonding between molecules.
• When ice melts into liquid water, the molecules gain energy, allowing them to move more freely and increasing the overall disorder of the system.
• Since entropy is a measure of disorder, the transition from solid to liquid results in a positive change in entropy (ΔS > 0).
• Therefore, during the melting of ice, the entropy change is positive.