Answer: D. An increase in entropy
Explanation:
Entropy is the measure of randomness or disorder of a system. If a system moves from an disordered arrangement to an ordered arrangement, the entropy is said to increase and vice versa.
For a reaction to be spontaneous, the enthalpy of the solution must decrease and the entropy must increase.
To overcome a positive enthalpy of solution and allow a solid solute to dissolve in water, an increase in entropy would make the reaction spontaneous as the system would move to a more disordered state.
