Crystallization of sodium acetate occurs spontaneously from a supersaturated solution. What can you deduce about the signs of ΔS and ΔH for this process?

ΔS < 0

ΔH < 0

Explanation:

Recall that the process is crystallization. Crystallization involves conversion of aqueous ions back to solid. This process decreases the entropy of the system hence ΔS is negative.

But remember that a process is only spontaneous when ΔG <0 (negative). From;

ΔG = ΔH - TΔS

If  ΔS is negative, then (-TΔS) must be positive since  ΔS is negative. The only way to make the process spontaneous is to make ΔH negative so that ΔG also becomes negative.

a. energy is absorbed in the reaction.

if in a given reaction the energy of products is greater than the energy of reactants it means that reaction is endothermic and during the reaction, the energy is absorbed by reactants. in an endothermic reaction, the products have more stored chemical energy than the reactants. and in this reaction the reactants are more stable than products before the compounds with less energy are always more stable.