When a gas is adsorbed on the surface of a solide, its entropy decreases, i.e.,ΔS
is -ve
. Now ΔS=ΔH-TΔS
and for the process to be spontaneous, free energy change, ΔG
, must be negative. As TΔS
is -ve
, therefore, ΔG
can be -ve
only if ΔH
is -ve
. Hence, adsorption is always exothermic.