What is the Third Law of Thermodynamics?

The Third Law of Thermodynamics states that a perfect crystal at zero

Kelvin (absolute zero) has zero entropy. First, a perfect crystal means that
there are no impurities, has achieved thermodynamic equilibrium, and that it is
in a crystalline state where all the atoms/ion/molecules are in well-defined
positions in a highly-ordered crystalline lattice. This would exclude amorphous
solids like glass that don't have an ordered, crystalline structure and have not
achieved thermodynamic equilibrium.

The Third Law is not intuitive but was derived empirically as a system's entropy
always approached the same minimum value as the absolute temperature was
lowered and approached zero. From the standpoint of statistical mechanics, the
Third Law implies that a perfect crystal at absolute zero must exist in a single
microstate as we'll see in the next lesson on Entropy.

The Third Law also provides us with a reference point, which combined with the
fact that entropy is a state function allows us to determine the absolute entropy
of a substance at any temperature which is very useful for calculating ΔSreaction as
we'll see later in the chapter. We'll also learn that such a reference point is not
available for Gibbs Free Energy or Enthalpy leading to the use of formation
reactions in calculating ΔGreaction and ΔHreaction.