When carbon monoxide forms a crystal,each molecule can be pictured as having two possible orientations,CO or OC,because the molecular dipole moment is quite small.Assuming two possible microstates for each CO molecule,calculate the value of S when one mole of CO forms a crystalline solid at 0 K.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

For each molecule, there are 2 possible microstates. Therefore, for one mole of CO, there are 2^(6.02*10^23) possible microstates.

Using Boltzmann's equation, S = k ln(W), where k is Boltzmann's constant (1.38*10^-23 J/K) and W is the number of possible microstates.

S = (1.38*10^-23 J/K) * ln[2^(6.02*10^23)]

S = (1.38*10^-23 J/K) * (6.02*10^23 * ln2)

S = 5.76 J/mol-K (rounded to two significant figures)

Therefore, the correct answer is C.

When Carbon Monoxide Forms a Crystal,each Molecule Can Be Pictured ×\times×

When Carbon Monoxide Forms a Crystal,each Molecule Can Be Pictured $\times$