However, this interpretation is false (even though it is a good rule of thumb for
remembering the expression for dA) because the tendency to lower A is solely a tendency
towards states of greater overall entropy. Systems change spontaneously if in
doing so the total entropy of the system and its surroundings increases, not because
they tend to lower internal energy. The form of dA may give the impression that
systems favour lower energy, but that is misleading: dS is the entropy change of
the system, −dU/T is the entropy change of the surroundings (when the volume of the
system is constant), and their total tends to a maximum.