Final answer:
The driving force behind all self-assembly processes is entropy, which is a thermodynamic property of a system that is proportional to its degree of disorder. When a system becomes more disordered, the entropy increases, driving self-assembly processes. For example, the melting of an ice cube is driven by the increase in entropy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The driving force behind all self-assembly processes is entropy.
Entropy is a thermodynamic property that is proportional to the degree of disorder in a system. It determines the likelihood of a process occurring spontaneously. When a system becomes more disordered, the entropy of the system increases, and this drives self-assembly processes.
For example, when an ice cube melts, energy is transferred from the room to the ice cube, causing it to change from a solid state (ordered) to a liquid state (disordered). The increase in disorder (entropy) drives the self-assembly process of melting.