entropy with change of temperature

Volume: $\Delta S = nR\ln \frac{V_{2}}{V_{1}}$
Temperature: $\Delta S = nC\ln \frac{T_{2}}{T_{1}}$

Savannah Mance 4G
Posts: 107
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:17 am

entropy with change of temperature

I was a little confused about entropy because I thought that if the temperature was higher, there would be more disorder and entropy considering under conditions of high temp. the molecules would move around faster and be more "disordered". But, the entropy equation says otherwise since the temp. is in the denominator of the delta S= q/T. Can someone please explain why a higher temp. means less change in entropy?

Ariana Iranmahboub1G
Posts: 114
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:17 am

Re: entropy with change of temperature

I believe that equation is only pertained for change in entropy. Entropy does increase with temperature, but the higher the temperature, a certain amount of heat added to a system will cause a smaller change in entropy.

Chem_Mod
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Re: entropy with change of temperature

You might be interpreting the meaning of the equation wrong. You are correct that increasing the temperature causes an increase in entropy; however this is given by the equation delta S = nClnT2/T1. The equation delta S = q/T is for a change in entropy caused by adding heat at a constant temperature. This simply means that for an some amount of heat added or lost by a system, the change in entropy will be greater if the system is at a lower temperature compared to a higher temperature. Think about it this way: giving a millionaire $100 is not very significant, but giving a broke college student$100 could be quite impactful.