How does temperature affect the entropy of a substance?

Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system. As the temperature of a substance increases, the kinetic energy of its molecules also increases. This heightened molecular movement allows for greater positional and energetic possibilities, leading to an increase in disorder.

At higher temperatures, particles move more vigorously, and they can occupy a wider range of microstates, thus enhancing the overall entropy of the system. For example, when a solid is heated and transitions to a liquid or gas phase, the arrangement of the molecules becomes less ordered, thereby increasing entropy. This understanding is fundamental in thermodynamics and aligns with the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time.

Therefore, it is accurate to state that entropy increases as the temperature of a substance increases, highlighting the direct relationship between temperature and entropy.