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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2006  > January  >
Research: Science and Education
The Analysis of Spontaneous Processes Using Equilibrium Thermodynamics
J. M. Honig and Dor Ben-Amotz
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1393
Cover
January 2006
Vol. 83 No. 1
p. 132
Abstract
We present a pedagogical tool that facilitates the derivation of wide-ranging thermodynamic implications of the second law and, particularly, the consequences of irreversible processes, including a number of important results that are not described in current physical chemistry textbooks. This method begins by converting the Clausius inequality into an equality by introducing a deficit function that represents a quantitative measure of the excess entropy or heat produced as well as the inefficiency in work performed in any irreversible processes. We also investigate the consequences of applying or removing constraints that initiate spontaneous processes. Our analysis leads to remarkably concise alternative methods for relating the conventional thermodynamic potential functions to the associated minimum principles that drive spontaneous transformations. We further use this method to derive relations between each thermodynamic potential and the maximum work obtainable from processes carried out under various externally imposed constraints.
More Information
*  Citation
 Honig, J. M.; Ben-Amotz, Dor. J. Chem. Educ. 2006 83 132.
*  Keywords
 Graduate Education / Research; Inorganic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Physical Properties; Textbooks / Reference Books; Thermodynamics; Upper-Division Undergraduate
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 12/1/2005
12/7/2005
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