Asked by Drip

What happens to entropy when ice melts into water?


a.Entropy depends only on temperature, not phase
b.Entropy increases because the system becomes less ordered
c.Entropy remains constant
d.Entropy decreases because the system becomes more ordered

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
b. Entropy increases because the system becomes less ordered.

When ice melts, heat is absorbed (endothermic). For a reversible melting at the melting temperature, ΔS = Q_rev/T = ΔH_fus/T, which is positive. The liquid has more microscopic disorder than the crystalline solid.