Page "Spontaneous process" Paragraph 19

Spontaneity does not imply that the reaction proceeds with great speed.

For example, the decay of diamonds into graphite is a spontaneous process occurs very slowly, taking millions of years.

The rate of a reaction is independent of its spontaneity, and instead depends on the chemical kinetics of the reaction.

Every reactant in a spontaneous process has a tendency to form the corresponding product.

This tendency is related to stability.

Stability is gained by a substance if it is in a minimum energy state or is in maximum randomness.

Only one of these can be applied at a time.

e. g. Water converting to ice is a spontaneous process because ice is more stable since it is of lower energy.

However, the formation of water is also a spontaneous process as water is the more random state.