Final answer:
Energy is transferred from the flame to the water as heat, making the direction of energy transfer from the surroundings to the system. This process occurs in an open system and leads to an increase in the entropy of the system as the water evaporates.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a pot of water is placed over a flame until it boils away, the direction of energy transfer is from the flame (the high-temperature source) to the water (the lower-temperature system). This is because heat transfer occurs from a hotter object to a cooler one until thermal equilibrium is reached. In this case, the pot of water represents an open system because it can exchange both matter (in the form of water vapor) and energy with its surroundings. As the water is heated, its molecules begin to move more vigorously and eventually change phase from liquid to gas, which is when the water boils and evaporates. During this process, the system's entropy increases as the water molecules become more disordered and spread out as vapor.
The system in question is the pot of water, and the surroundings are the flame and the air around it. In this scenario, energy is being transferred between the system and the surroundings as heat. The flame transfers heat energy to the water, causing it to increase in temperature until it reaches the boiling point. Then, as the water boils, the heat energy is used to convert the water into water vapor, until eventually all the water has boiled away.