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8: State Changes and Thermodynamics

  • Page ID
    389605
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    • 8.1: The Nature of Energy
      All forms of energy can be interconverted. Three things can change the energy of an object: the transfer of heat, work performed on or by an object, or some combination of heat and work. Thermochemistry is a branch of chemistry that qualitatively and quantitatively describes the energy changes that occur during chemical reactions. Energy is the capacity to do work.
    • 8.2: The First Law of Thermodynamics
      The first law of thermodynamics states that the energy of the universe is constant. The change in the internal energy of a system is the sum of the heat transferred and the work done. At constant pressure, heat flow (q) and internal energy (U) are related to the system’s enthalpy (H). The heat flow is equal to the change in the internal energy.
    • 8.3: Phase Transitions
      Phase transitions are processes that convert matter from one physical state into another. There are six phase transitions between the three phases of matter. Melting, vaporization, and sublimation are all endothermic processes, requiring an input of heat to overcome intermolecular attractions. The reciprocal transitions of freezing, condensation, and deposition are all exothermic processes, involving heat as intermolecular attractive forces are established or strengthened.
    • 8.4: Phase Diagrams
      The temperature and pressure conditions at which a substance exists in solid, liquid, and gaseous states are summarized in a phase diagram for that substance. Phase diagrams are combined plots of three pressure-temperature equilibrium curves: solid-liquid, liquid-gas, and solid-gas. These curves represent the relationships between phase-transition temperatures and pressures. The intersection of all three curves represents the substance’s triple point at which all three phases coexist.
    • 8.5: Spontaneity
      Chemical and physical processes have a natural tendency to occur in one direction under certain conditions. A spontaneous process occurs without the need for a continual input of energy from some external source, while a nonspontaneous process requires such. Systems undergoing a spontaneous process may or may not experience a gain or loss of energy, but they will experience a change in the way matter and/or energy is distributed within the system.
    • 8.6: Enthalpy
      If a chemical change is carried out at constant pressure and the only work done is caused by expansion or contraction, q for the change is called the enthalpy change with the symbol ΔH. Examples of enthalpy changes include enthalpy of combustion, enthalpy of fusion, enthalpy of vaporization, and standard enthalpy of formation.   If the enthalpies of formation are available for the reactants and products of a reaction, the enthalpy change can be calculated using Hess’s law.
    • 8.7: Calorimetry
      Calorimetry is used to measure the amount of thermal energy transferred in a chemical or physical process. This requires careful measurement of the temperature change that occurs during the process and the masses of the system and surroundings. These measured quantities are then used to compute the amount of heat produced or consumed in the process using known mathematical relations. Calorimeters are designed to minimize energy exchange between the system and its surroundings.
    • 8.8: Entropy
      Entropy (S) is a state function that can be related to the number of microstates for a system (the number of ways the system can be arranged) and to the ratio of reversible heat to Kelvin temperature. It may be interpreted as a measure of the dispersal or distribution of matter and/or energy in a system, and it is often described as representing the “disorder” of the system. For a given substance, Ssolid<Sliquid<SgasSsolid<Sliquid<SgasS_{solid} < S_{liquid} < S_{gas} in a given physical state at
    • 8.9: The Second and Third Laws of Thermodynamics
      The second law of thermodynamics states spontaneous processes increases the entropy of the universe. If a process would decrease the entropy of the universe, then the process is nonspontaneous, and if no change occurs, the system is at equilibrium. The third law of thermodynamics establishes the zero for entropy at 0 J/Kelvin for a perfect, pure crystalline solid at 0 K with only one possible microstate.
    • 8.10: Gibbs Energy
      Gibbs free energy (G) is a state function defined with regard to system quantities only and may be used to predict the spontaneity of a process. A negative value for ΔG indicates that the reaction will proceed in the forward direction to reach equilibrium; a positive ΔG indicates that the reaction will proceed in the reverse direction to reach equilibrium; and a ΔG of zero indicates that the system is at equilibrium. A number of approaches to the computation of free energy changes are possible.
    • 8.E: Thermodynamics (Exercises)
      These are homework exercises to accompany the Textmap created for "Chemistry" by OpenStax.


    8: State Changes and Thermodynamics is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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