Question

Which of the following has the lowest entropy: a liquid, a gas, or a crystalline solid?

Answer 1

Hint: Let's start with a definition of entropy so we can answer the question. The amount of disorder in a system is defined as entropy. As a result, chaotic systems have more entropy. Entropy is also lower in systems with higher order.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
The order of increasing entropy is solid < liquid < gas.
Explanation:
The statistical probability of disorder is defined as entropy. It can be studied and quantified, and free gas particles have clearly more randomness than condensed phase particles.
The entropy of the liquid state is larger than the entropy of the solid state for a given substance. Similarly, the entropy of a gas is higher than that of a liquid. As a result, entropy rises in processes that produce gaseous products from solid or liquid reactants. When solid reactants combine to generate liquid products, entropy rises as well. Because the particles of solids are found in an organized manner with little movement, it can be said that solids have the lowest entropy out of the three states of matter.

Note:
It should be noted that when a substance is broken down into several pieces, entropy rises. Because the solute particles become separated from one another when a solution is produced, entropy increases during the dissolving process, and it also increases as temperature rises. As the temperature rises, the kinetic energy of the substance's particles increases. Particles travelling quicker at a lower temperature have more disorder than particles moving more slowly at a higher temperature.