## Relation of degeneracy and entropy

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

Nancy Le - 1F
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:07 am

### Relation of degeneracy and entropy

Can someone explain what increasing/decreasing degeneracy does to entropy?

Hazem Nasef 1I
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:13 am

### Re: Relation of degeneracy and entropy

Increasing degeneracy results in an increase in entropy of the system. This is shown by the Boltzmann equation: S=kB*ln(W), where w is the degeneracy and S is entropy. Therefore, an increase in w increases the value of S, which is entropy. This also makes sense because degeneracy is the number of ways of achieving a given energy state and entropy is the likelihood that the system will be in a particular state. So, if there are more ways for a system to achieve a certain energy state, then there is a greater likelihood that the system will be in that state.

Salma Quintanilla 1J
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2016 3:02 am

### Re: Relation of degeneracy and entropy

The number of possible states for a system of given energy is called the degeneracy and it is denoted by g in the equation S=k ln (g). So when there is an increase in the degeneracy the energy level is higher versus when the degeneracy decreases, the energy level is lower.