A student plots lnK versus 1/T for a particular reaction and obtains a straight line with a negative slope. Which conclusion is most consistent with these data?
a) ΔG∘ becomes more positive as temperature increases, so the reaction becomes less spontaneous at higher T.
b) ΔG∘ changes markedly with temperature, becoming negative at higher T.
c) The negative slope shows that ΔS∘ is negative, so the reaction is increasingly unfavored as T rises.
d) Because K is virtually constant over the range studied, temperature has little effect on the spontaneity of the reaction.