Question

Explain why a building made of bricks has smaller entropy than the same bricks in a disorganized pile. Do this by considering the number of ways that each could be formed (the number of microstates in each macrostate).

a)The building has fewer microstates.
b)The disorganized pile has fewer microstates.
c)Both have the same microstates.
d)Entropy is not related to microstates.

Answer 1

A building made of bricks has smaller entropy than the same bricks in a disorganized pile because the building has fewer microstates. A disordered system has a greater number of possible microstates than an ordered system, leading to higher entropy.

Step-by-step explanation:

A disordered system has a greater number of possible microstates than does an ordered system, so it has a higher entropy. For example, consider a building made of bricks and the same bricks in a disorganized pile. The building has fewer microstates because the bricks are arranged in a specific order, whereas the disorganized pile has a greater number of microstates because the bricks can be arranged in many different ways. Therefore, the building made of bricks has smaller entropy than the disorganized pile.