Final answer:
The correct answer is c. a student cleans his dorm room. Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer is c. a student cleans his dorm room. Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system. When water boils, the molecules become more spread out and disordered, resulting in an increase in entropy. When a child scatters her toys, the toys become more disordered and spread out, also increasing entropy. When a hose sprays water, the water molecules become more dispersed, increasing entropy. However, when a student cleans his dorm room, the room becomes more organized and ordered, decreasing entropy.
The question relates to the concept of entropy, which in thermodynamics, is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system. When considering which of the given options does not result in an increase in entropy, we look for a process that leads to a more ordered state. In options (a) water boils, (b) a child scatters her toys, and (d) a hose sprays water, the entropy of the system increases because these actions create more disorder and randomness. However, in option (c) a student cleans his dorm room, the entropy of the room decreases because the student is organizing and decreasing the randomness in the system.