Question

Under what circumstances, and why, can the spontaneity of a process be discussed in terms of the properties of the system alone?​ Please note that these problems were provided by Charles Trapp and Carmen Giunta.

Answer 1

Spontaneity of a process deals with the systems undergoing some change with respect to initial and final states. The parameters used to define and quantify the spontaneity of a system such as internal energy, enthalpy, entropy are state functions. They provide information about the system with respect to thermodynamic terms. AG (change in Gibb's free energy) = AH-TAS where AH is change in enthalpy and AS is change in entropy. conditions for spontaneous systems involved change in initial and final states are AG should be negative AH should be negative (exothermic) AS should be positive