Final answer:
Entropy is the term that reflects the extent to which a reaction contributes to the disorder of the universe. A system with high entropy is more disordered and has lower energy. The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system will not decrease, making increased disorder more likely.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that reflects the degree to which a reaction creates a more disordered state of the universe is known as entropy. Entropy is a measure of randomness or disorder within a system and is denoted by the symbol S. Systems with high entropy are characterized by greater disorder and lower energy.
According to the second law of thermodynamics, entropy in an isolated system will not decrease. For example, when a gas expands freely, its entropy increases as there are more possible arrangements for the gas molecules in the larger volume. Similarly, as molecules diffuse from an area of high concentration to a more spread-out arrangement, the entropy increases. This indicates that chemical reactions generally proceed in a way that increases the total entropy of the system.
However, entropy can locally decrease when energy is transferred from another system, yet this will still result in an overall increase in the entropy of the universe. Situations where entropy decreases spontaneously in a large system are possible but are incredibly rare. Therefore, disorder is far more likely than order to occur naturally.