The entropy has decreased - as we predicted it would in the earlier page. Total entropy at the end = 214 + 2(69.9) = 353.8 J K -1mol -1Įntropy change = what you end up with - what you started with.Įntropy change = 353.8 - 596 = -242.2 J K -1mol -1 You ended up with 1 mole of carbon dioxide and two moles of liquid water. You started with 1 mole of methane and 2 moles of oxygen. In the introductory page we looked at the following reaction and worked out that there would be a decrease in entropy. Where Σ (sigma) simply means 'the sum of'. Change in entropy = what you end up with - what you started with You add up the entropies for everything you end up with, and take away the entropies of everything you started with.

Working out entropy changes for a reaction is very easy. In an exam, you will be given values for all the standard entropies you need. The thing you must be most careful about is the fact that entropy is measured in joules, not kilojoules, unlike most of the other energy terms you will have come across. Use whatever units the examiners give you. 1 bar is 100 kPa 1 atmosphere is 101.325 kPa. Don't worry about it - they are nearly the same. You might find the pressure quoted as 1 atmosphere rather than 1 bar in less recent sources. If your syllabus doesn't mention all these different sorts, just ignore this comment.Įntropy is given the symbol S, and standard entropy (measured at 298 K and a pressure of 1 bar) is given the symbol S°.

Entropy change to the surroundings and the total entropy change are dealt with on another page. This page deals only with entropy changes to the system. Note: If you haven't already read the page about introducing entropy, you should do so before you go on. This page looks at how you can calculate entropy changes during reactions from given values of entropy for each of the substances taking part.

Calculate change in entropy formula