What is the difference between Entropy, Enthalpy and Free Energy. I'm getting really confused and I just need someone to explain it in simple terms please.
Thanks in advance.
1 answer
These are not easy to define and not easy to explain. Many people are/get confused. I looked for a good web site and found none. Basically, entropy is the degree of disorder of a system although there are some that don't like that definition. Enthalpy is the heat into or out of a system. Free energy (usually we are interested in the DIFFERENCE in free energy) is the difference between the free energy of the products minus the free energy of the reactants. If the delta G is negative the reaction is spontaneous and if the reaction is positive the reaction is not spontaneous.