Final answer:
The entropic penalty refers to a decrease in disorder (lower entropy), and entropic boost refers to an increase in disorder (higher entropy). It is tied to the second law of thermodynamics, with natural processes favoring increases in entropy.
Step-by-step explanation:
When discussing the entropic penalty/boost of a system, we refer to the changes in the entropy, which measures the degree of randomness or disorder of a system. The correct statement is a) Entropic penalty refers to the decrease in disorder, while entropic boost is an increase in disorder.
During an entropic penalty, there's a reduction in the system's entropy, implying a more ordered state. Conversely, an entropic boost occurs when there's an increase in the system's entropy, leading to a more disordered or random state. This concept aligns with the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time, meaning that processes that increase disorder (entropy) are naturally favored.
For example, when molecules at a high concentration disperse and spread out, the entropy increases due to the energy distribution becoming more random. When energy is input into a system, such as tidying a room or organizing particles, entropy temporarily reduces, but this local decrease is at the cost of an overall increase in the entropy of the universe.