W versus S

$\Delta S = \frac{q_{rev}}{T}$

Alexis Elliott 1J
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:59 pm

W versus S

I am bit confused on the conceptual difference between the W and the S. I understand that S is a function of S, but I don't understand how they are different in terms of what they represent.

Thanks!!

Jenna Smith 3F
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:55 pm

Re: W versus S

Simply speaking, S is entropy, a measure of disorder. A low value of S means the level of disorder is small, while a high value of S means the level of disorder is high. One way to calculate S is the Boltzmann formula, which is S=klnW. W is the number of possible arrangements (in the case of a molecule, it could be the number of orientations, like OH, which has 2, O-H and H-O) of something. The value of W is a way to gauge disorder, and can be related to S with Boltzmann's formula, which is used calculate a useful quantitative value that can be used for other calculations.

Cobie_Allen_1H
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:56 pm

Re: W versus S

I was confused by this as well, thank you for the explanation. So S is essentially related to W in that in order to measure the total disorder we must know the W, right?