Question

Does a gas become more orderly when it liquefies? Does its entropy change? If so, does the entropy increase or decrease? Explain your answer.

Short answer

As a gas liquefies into a liquid, the entropy decreases.

Step-by-step solution

Describe how orderliness changes with the state of the system.

In its solid form, a system will be highly ordered. Its orderliness is reduced when it transforms from a solid to a liquid or gaseous form. Because orderliness depends on how the particles are arranged in a system. As the gas changes to liquid in this situation, the particles get closer together and the arrangement becomes more orderly. As a result, the system becomes more orderly.

Describe how the entropy changes as the gas liquifies.

In a gas, the space between the particles is greater, allowing them to move randomly and increasing the entropy. Because the measure of randomness is entropy. When a gas liquefies, the particles get closer together, and the gas's ability to move diminishes. It became less disordered and less random. As a result, entropy decreases.

So, the entropy of the system will be reduced when it changes from a gaseous state to a liquid state.