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Final answer:In anenergy diagramfor a chemical reaction, if the reaction is exothermic, ΔEsys is negative (system releases energy), and ΔEsurr is positive (surroundings gain energy). This process decreases the system's entropy while increasing the surroundings', thus increasing the universe's entropy as per the second law of thermodynamics.Explanation:In the context of an energy diagram for a chemical reaction, ΔEsys and ΔEsurr would represent changes in energy for the system (chemical reaction) and surroundings, respectively. For anexothermic reaction(one that releases heat), ΔEsys will be negative, which means the system is losing energy, while ΔEsurr will be positive, implying that the surroundings are gaining energy. The principle of energy conservation is at play here, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system. It can only be transferred from the system to the surroundings or vice versa.Consider a reactant A + B converting to products C + D. The initial system has reactants only, which with enough energy will collide to form a high-energy complex or transition state. This unstable state subsequently decays to yield stable products C + D. This process is illustrated on an energy diagram, which depicts the activation energy (Eå) as the energy difference between reactants and transition state. The change in enthalpy (ΔH), the heat content of the system, estimates the energy difference between reactants and products.In an exothermic reaction, which most chemical reactions are, the enthalpy change ΔH is less than 0, meaning the system releases heat. Consequently, the system's entropy (a measure of disorder) decreases while that of the surroundings' increases, leading to an increase in the universe's entropy, which agrees with the second law of thermodynamics.Learn more about Energy Diagram here:brainly.com/question/35916798#SPJ11...