Entropy generation in a chemical reaction

Abstract

Entropy generation in a chemical reaction is analyzed without using the general formalism of non-equilibrium thermodynamics at a level adequate for advanced undergraduates. In a first approach to the problem, the phenomenological kinetic equation of an elementary first order reaction is used to show that entropy production is always positive. A second approach assumes that the reaction is near equilibrium to prove that the entropy generated is always greater than zero, without any reference to the kinetics of the reaction. Finally, it is shown that entropy generation is related to fluctuations in the number of particles at equilibrium, i.e. it is associated to a microscopic process.