DoctorLindenbarg

Hi guys, I'm new to this site, so I don't know if people can see this or reply to it, but I've had some questions regarding the dissolution of table salt in water that I'd like some input on: In my high school chem class, we were taught that the reason the ionic compound NaCl dissolves in H2O is because the dipoles on the water molecule pull apart the NaCl. However when I was having a chat with my friend (chem major) and this came up, he said that what we were taught "made no sense" because the dipole-dipole intermolecular force in water is much weaker than the ion-ion intermolecular force in table salt. He then went on to explain that the Na+ and Cl- ions were only able to be pulled apart because of the entropy in the system, which was favorable over the organized structure of the table salt. Could I get a quick explanation on entropy (what it is, how it's measured, how it affects matter)? Does each system have its own entropical (?) value? Is entropy an energy? If not, how can it overcome the intermolecular forces in this example? Thanks a bunch