Question

As glucose is oxidized to carbon dioxide, does the level of entropy increase?

Answer 1

What do you think..........?

Explanation:

Consider the stoichiometric equation that represents such oxidation......

`C_6H_12O_6(aq) +6O_2(g) rarr 6CO_2(g)uarr + 6H_2O(l)`

The reaction is certainly favoured by enthalpy in that you making the stable carbon dioxide and water molecules.......

The reaction is also favoured by entropy in that a linear triatom, the `CO_2` certainly has more statistical probability for disorder than a diatom. Entropy increases, and you should use the tables of standard entropy that you will find in your text to calculate the `DeltaS^@` of the given reaction (you can ignore the entropies of the solid and the liquid, `S""_"gas"^@` will dwarf these.......In any case in the reaction as written you've got 12 moles of product, and 7 moles of reactant; what do these data suggest with regard to entropy?