Question

Does the change in entropy in a system depends on initial and final states of the system and the path taken from one state to another

Answer 1

State functions, like entropy, depend only on the initial and final states. Mathematically, they are said to have an "exact" differential. Both these are equivalent to saying state functions are path-independent. So entropy change (not absolute entropy itself) is independent of the path taken, and the entropy change will be the same between two states no matter what process is used to transition between them.However, as I understand it, path-independence is a separate issue from reversible/irreversible. Going from state A to state B, we can take any reversible path and a state function will yield the same value. But irreversible paths are fundamentally different from reversible paths, and should not be regarded as simply another path from A to B. Irreversible processes are a different class of processes than reversible/ideal ones. Taking an irreversible path from A to B, I would generally expect the state function to have a different value than even the "same" path done reversibly.