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Concept
Entropy of mixing
Summary
In thermodynamics, the entropy of mixing is the increase in the total entropy when several initially separate systems of different composition, each in a thermodynamic state of internal equilibrium, are mixed without chemical reaction by the thermodynamic operation of removal of impermeable partition(s) between them, followed by a time for establishment of a new thermodynamic state of internal equilibrium in the new unpartitioned closed system.
In general, the mixing may be constrained to occur under various prescribed conditions. In the customarily prescribed conditions, the materials are each initially at a common temperature and pressure, and the new system may change its volume, while being maintained at that same constant temperature, pressure, and chemical component masses. The volume available for each material to explore is increased, from that of its initially separate compartment, to the total common final volume. The final volume need not be the sum of the initially separate volumes, so that work can be done on or by the new closed system during the process of mixing, as well as heat being transferred to or from the surroundings, because of the maintenance of constant pressure and temperature.
The internal energy of the new closed system is equal to the sum of the internal energies of the initially separate systems. The reference values for the internal energies should be specified in a way that is constrained to make this so, maintaining also that the internal energies are respectively proportional to the masses of the systems.
For concision in this article, the term 'ideal material' is used to refer to either an ideal gas (mixture) or an ideal solution.
In the special case of mixing ideal materials, the final common volume is in fact the sum of the initial separate compartment volumes. There is no heat transfer and no work is done. The entropy of mixing is entirely accounted for by the diffusive expansion of each material into a final volume not initially accessible to it.
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