Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system. During the vaporization of a substance like rubidium, the entropy increases because the molecules move from a more ordered liquid phase to a disordered gaseous phase.
The formula that relates enthalpy of vaporization \(\Delta H_{\text{vap}}^\circ\) and entropy change \(\Delta S^\circ\) is given by:
- \(\Delta H_{\text{vap}}^\circ = T\Delta S^\circ\)
At the boiling point, the temperature \(T\) is crucial because it determines how much disorder is introduced as heat energy is added.
For rubidium, the temperature is converted to Kelvin because thermodynamic calculations are generally performed in this unit (Kelvin). To find \(\Delta S^\circ\):
- Convert boiling point temperature from Celsius to Kelvin.
- Use the enthalpy of vaporization and convert it from kJ to J for consistency.
- Divide the enthalpy by temperature to get the change in entropy.
This calculation tells us that for rubidium's vaporization, entropy change \(\Delta S^\circ\) is approximately 71.95 \(\text{J/mol·K}\), signifying a sensible increase in disorder.