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A thermodynamic potential (or more accurately, a thermodynamic potential energy) is a scalar quantity used to represent the thermodynamic state of a system. Just as in mechanics, where potential energy is defined as capacity to do work, similarly different potentials have different meanings. The concept of thermodynamic potentials was introduced by Pierre Duhem in 1886. Josiah Willard Gibbs in his papers used the term fundamental functions. While thermodynamic potentials cannot be measured directly, they can be predicted using computational chemistry.
One main thermodynamic potential that has a physical interpretation is the internal energy U. It is the energy of configuration of a given system of conservative forces (that is why it is called potential) and only has meaning with respect to a defined set of references (or data). Expressions for all other thermodynamic energy potentials are derivable via Legendre transforms from an expression for U. In other words, each thermodynamic potential is equivalent to other thermodynamic potentials; each potential is a different expression of the others.
In thermodynamics, external forces, such as gravity, are counted as contributing to total energy rather than to thermodynamic potentials. For example, the working fluid in a steam engine sitting on top of Mount Everest has higher total energy due to gravity than it has at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, but the same thermodynamic potentials. This is because the gravitational potential energy belongs to the total energy rather than to thermodynamic potentials such as internal energy.
Description and interpretation
Five common thermodynamic potentials are:
Name | Symbol | Formula | Natural variables |
---|---|---|---|
Internal energy | |||
Helmholtz free energy | |||
Enthalpy | |||
Gibbs free energy | |||
Landau potential, or grand potential |
where T = temperature, S = entropy, p = pressure, V = volume. Ni is the number of particles of type i in the system and μi is the chemical potential for an i-type particle. The set of all Ni are also included as natural variables but may be ignored when no chemical reactions are occurring which cause them to change. The Helmholtz free energy is in ISO/IEC standard called Helmholtz energy or Helmholtz function. It is often denoted by the symbol F, but the use of A is preferred by IUPAC,ISO and IEC.
These five common potentials are all potential energies, but there are also entropy potentials. The thermodynamic square can be used as a tool to recall and derive some of the potentials.
Just as in mechanics, where potential energy is defined as capacity to do work, similarly different potentials have different meanings like the below:
- Internal energy (U) is the capacity to do work plus the capacity to release heat.
- Gibbs energy (G) is the capacity to do non-mechanical work.
- Enthalpy (H) is the capacity to do non-mechanical work plus the capacity to release heat.
- Helmholtz energy (F) is the capacity to do mechanical work plus non-mechanical work.
From these meanings (which actually apply in specific conditions, e.g. constant pressure, temperature, etc.), for positive changes (e.g., ΔU > 0), we can say that ΔU is the energy added to the system, ΔF is the total work done on it, ΔG is the non-mechanical work done on it, and ΔH is the sum of non-mechanical work done on the system and the heat given to it.
Note that the sum of internal energy is conserved, but the sum of Gibbs energy, or Helmholtz energy, are not conserved, despite being named "energy". They can be better interpreted as the potential to perform "useful work", and the potential can be wasted.
Thermodynamic potentials are very useful when calculating the equilibrium results of a chemical reaction, or when measuring the properties of materials in a chemical reaction. The chemical reactions usually take place under some constraints such as constant pressure and temperature, or constant entropy and volume, and when this is true, there is a corresponding thermodynamic potential that comes into play. Just as in mechanics, the system will tend towards a lower value of a potential and at equilibrium, under these constraints, the potential will take the unchanging minimum value. The thermodynamic potentials can also be used to estimate the total amount of energy available from a thermodynamic system under the appropriate constraint.
In particular: (see principle of minimum energy for a derivation)
- When the entropy S and "external parameters" (e.g. volume) of a closed system are held constant, the internal energy U decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium. This follows from the first and second laws of thermodynamics and is called the principle of minimum energy. The following three statements are directly derivable from this principle.
- When the temperature T and external parameters of a closed system are held constant, the Helmholtz free energy F decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium.
- When the pressure p and external parameters of a closed system are held constant, the enthalpy H decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium.
- When the temperature T, pressure p and external parameters of a closed system are held constant, the Gibbs free energy G decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium.
Natural variables
For each thermodynamic potential, there are thermodynamic variables that need to be held constant to specify the potential value at a thermodynamical equilibrium state, such as independent variables for a mathematical function. These variables are termed the natural variables of that potential. The natural variables are important not only to specify the potential value at the equilibrium, but also because if a thermodynamic potential can be determined as a function of its natural variables, all of the thermodynamic properties of the system can be found by taking partial derivatives of that potential with respect to its natural variables and this is true for no other combination of variables. If a thermodynamic potential is not given as a function of its natural variables, it will not, in general, yield all of the thermodynamic properties of the system.
The set of natural variables for each of the above four thermodynamic potentials is formed from a combination of the T, S, p, V variables, excluding any pairs of conjugate variables; there is no natural variable set for a potential including the T-S or p-V variables together as conjugate variables for energy. An exception for this rule is the Ni − μi conjugate pairs as there is no reason to ignore these in the thermodynamic potentials, and in fact we may additionally define the four potentials for each species. Using IUPAC notation in which the brackets contain the natural variables (other than the main four), we have:
Thermodynamic potential name | Formula | Natural variables |
---|---|---|
Internal energy | ||
Helmholtz free energy | ||
Enthalpy | ||
Gibbs energy |
If there is only one species, then we are done. But, if there are, say, two species, then there will be additional potentials such as and so on. If there are D dimensions to the thermodynamic space, then there are 2D unique thermodynamic potentials. For the most simple case, a single phase ideal gas, there will be three dimensions, yielding eight thermodynamic potentials.
Fundamental equations
The definitions of the thermodynamic potentials may be differentiated and, along with the first and second laws of thermodynamics, a set of differential equations known as the fundamental equations follow. (Actually they are all expressions of the same fundamental thermodynamic relation, but are expressed in different variables.) By the first law of thermodynamics, any differential change in the internal energy U of a system can be written as the sum of heat flowing into the system subtracted by the work done by the system on the environment, along with any change due to the addition of new particles to the system:
where δQ is the infinitesimal heat flow into the system, and δW is the infinitesimal work done by the system, μi is the chemical potential of particle type i and Ni is the number of the type i particles. (Neither δQ nor δW are exact differentials, i.e., they are thermodynamic process path-dependent. Small changes in these variables are, therefore, represented with δ rather than d.)
By the second law of thermodynamics, we can express the internal energy change in terms of state functions and their differentials. In case of reversible changes we have:
where
- T is temperature,
- S is entropy,
- p is pressure,
and V is volume, and the equality holds for reversible processes.
This leads to the standard differential form of the internal energy in case of a quasistatic reversible change:
Since U, S and V are thermodynamic functions of state (also called state functions), the above relation also holds for arbitrary non-reversible changes. If the system has more external variables than just the volume that can change, the fundamental thermodynamic relation generalizes to:
Here the Xi are the generalized forces corresponding to the external variables xi.
Applying Legendre transforms repeatedly, the following differential relations hold for the four potentials (fundamental thermodynamic equations or fundamental thermodynamic relation):
The infinitesimals on the right-hand side of each of the above equations are of the natural variables of the potential on the left-hand side. Similar equations can be developed for all of the other thermodynamic potentials of the system. There will be one fundamental equation for each thermodynamic potential, resulting in a total of 2D fundamental equations.
The differences between the four thermodynamic potentials can be summarized as follows:
Equations of state
We can use the above equations to derive some differential definitions of some thermodynamic parameters. If we define Φ to stand for any of the thermodynamic potentials, then the above equations are of the form:
where xi and yi are conjugate pairs, and the yi are the natural variables of the potential Φ. From the chain rule it follows that:
where {yi ≠ j} is the set of all natural variables of Φ except yj that are held as constants. This yields expressions for various thermodynamic parameters in terms of the derivatives of the potentials with respect to their natural variables. These equations are known as equations of state since they specify parameters of the thermodynamic state. If we restrict ourselves to the potentials U (Internal energy), F (Helmholtz energy), H (Enthalpy) and G (Gibbs energy), then we have the following equations of state (subscripts showing natural variables that are held as constants):
where, in the last equation, ϕ is any of the thermodynamic potentials (U, F, H, or G), and are the set of natural variables for that potential, excluding Ni. If we use all thermodynamic potentials, then we will have more equations of state such as
and so on. In all, if the thermodynamic space is D dimensions, then there will be D equations for each potential, resulting in a total of D 2D equations of state because 2D thermodynamic potentials exist. If the D equations of state for a particular potential are known, then the fundamental equation for that potential (i.e., the exact differential of the thermodynamic potential) can be determined. This means that all thermodynamic information about the system will be known because the fundamental equations for any other potential can be found via the Legendre transforms and the corresponding equations of state for each potential as partial derivatives of the potential can also be found.
Measurement of thermodynamic potentials
The above equations of state suggest methods to experimentally measure changes in the thermodynamic potentials using physically measurable parameters. For example the free energy expressions
and
can be integrated at constant temperature and quantities to obtain:
(at constant T, {Nj} )
(at constant T, {Nj} )
which can be measured by monitoring the measurable variables of pressure, temperature and volume. Changes in the enthalpy and internal energy can be measured by calorimetry (which measures the amount of heat ΔQ released or absorbed by a system). The expressions
can be integrated:
(at constant P, {Nj} )
(at constant V, {Nj} )
Note that these measurements are made at constant {Nj } and are therefore not applicable to situations in which chemical reactions take place.
Maxwell relations
Again, define xi and yi to be conjugate pairs, and the yi to be the natural variables of some potential Φ. We may take the "cross differentials" of the state equations, which obey the following relationship:
From these we get the Maxwell relations. There will be (D − 1)/2 of them for each potential giving a total of D(D − 1)/2 equations in all. If we restrict ourselves the U, F, H, G
Using the equations of state involving the chemical potential we get equations such as:
and using the other potentials we can get equations such as:
Euler relations
Again, define xi and yi to be conjugate pairs, and the yi to be the natural variables of the internal energy. Since all of the natural variables of the internal energy U are extensive quantities
it follows from Euler's homogeneous function theorem that the internal energy can be written as:
From the equations of state, we then have:
This formula is known as an Euler relation, because Euler's theorem on homogeneous functions leads to it. (It was not discovered by Euler in an investigation of thermodynamics, which did not exist in his day.).
Substituting into the expressions for the other main potentials we have:
As in the above sections, this process can be carried out on all of the other thermodynamic potentials. Thus, there is another Euler relation, based on the expression of entropy as a function of internal energy and other extensive variables. Yet other Euler relations hold for other fundamental equations for energy or entropy, as respective functions of other state variables including some intensive state variables.
Gibbs–Duhem relation
Deriving the Gibbs–Duhem equation from basic thermodynamic state equations is straightforward. Equating any thermodynamic potential definition with its Euler relation expression yields:
Differentiating, and using the second law:
yields:
Which is the Gibbs–Duhem relation. The Gibbs–Duhem is a relationship among the intensive parameters of the system. It follows that for a simple system with I components, there will be I + 1 independent parameters, or degrees of freedom. For example, a simple system with a single component will have two degrees of freedom, and may be specified by only two parameters, such as pressure and volume for example. The law is named after Josiah Willard Gibbs and Pierre Duhem.
Stability conditions
As the internal energy is a convex function of entropy and volume, the stability condition requires that the second derivative of internal energy with entropy or volume to be positive. It is commonly expressed as . Since the maximum principle of entropy is equivalent to minimum principle of internal energy, the combined criteria for stability or thermodynamic equilibrium is expressed as
and
for parameters, entropy and volume. This is analogous to
and
condition for entropy at equilibrium. The same concept can be applied to the various thermodynamic potentials by identifying if they are convex or concave of respective their variables.
and
Where Helmholtz energy is a concave function of temperature and convex function of volume.
and
Where enthalpy is a concave function of pressure and convex function of entropy.
and
Where Gibbs potential is a concave function of both pressure and temperature.
In general the thermodynamic potentials (the internal energy and its Legendre transforms), are convex functions of their extrinsic variables and concave functions of intrinsic variables. The stability conditions impose that isothermal compressibility is positive and that for non-negative temperature, .
Chemical reactions
Changes in these quantities are useful for assessing the degree to which a chemical reaction will proceed. The relevant quantity depends on the reaction conditions, as shown in the following table. Δ denotes the change in the potential and at equilibrium the change will be zero.
Constant V | Constant p | |
---|---|---|
Constant S | ΔU | ΔH |
Constant T | ΔF | ΔG |
Most commonly one considers reactions at constant p and T, so the Gibbs free energy is the most useful potential in studies of chemical reactions.
See also
- Coomber's relationship
Notes
- ISO/IEC 80000-5, Quantities an units, Part 5 - Thermodynamics, item 5-20.4 Helmholtz energy, Helmholtz function
- ISO/IEC 80000-5, Quantities an units, Part 5 - Thermodynamics, item 5-20.5, Gibbs energy, Gibbs function
- Nitzke, Isabel; Stephan, Simon; Vrabec, Jadran (2024-06-03). "Topology of thermodynamic potentials using physical models: Helmholtz, Gibbs, Grand, and Null". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 160 (21). doi:10.1063/5.0207592. ISSN 0021-9606.
- Alberty (2001) p. 1353
- Alberty (2001) p. 1376
- ISO/IEC 80000-5:2007, item 5-20.4
- Tykodi, R. J. (1995-02-01). "Spontaneity, Accessibility, Irreversibility, "Useful Work": The Availability Function, the Helmholtz Function, and the Gibbs Function". Journal of Chemical Education. 72 (2): 103. Bibcode:1995JChEd..72..103T. doi:10.1021/ed072p103. ISSN 0021-9584.
- Callen (1985) p. 153
- Alberty (2001) p. 1352
- Alberty (2001) p. 1355
- Alberty (2001) p. 1354
- For example, ionic species Nj (measured in moles) held at a certain potential Vj will include the term
where F is the Faraday constant and zj is the multiple of the elementary charge of the ion.
- Callen (1985) p. 37
- Callen (1985) p. 181
- Callen, H.B. (1960/1985).Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics, second edition, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NY, ISBN 9780471862567, pp. 59–60.
- Bailyn, M. (1994). A Survey of Thermodynamics, American Institute of Physics, AIP Press, Woodbury NY, ISBN 0883187973, pp. 215–216.
- Callen, H.B. (1960/1985).Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics, second edition, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NY, ISBN 9780471862567, pp. 137–148.
- Moran & Shapiro, p. 538
- Callen (1985) p. 60
- W., Tschoegl, N. (2000). Fundamentals of Equilibrium and Steady-State Thermodynamics. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-444-50426-5. OCLC 1003633034.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Callen, Herbert B. (2005). Thermodynamics and an introduction to thermostatistics (2nd ed.). New Delhi: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 203–210. ISBN 978-81-265-0812-9. OCLC 663862636.
References
- Alberty, R. A. (2001). "Use of Legendre transforms in chemical thermodynamics" (PDF). Pure Appl. Chem. 73 (8): 1349–1380. doi:10.1351/pac200173081349.
- Callen, Herbert B. (1985). Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-86256-7.
- Moran, Michael J.; Shapiro, Howard N. (1996). Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics (3rd ed.). New York; Toronto: J. Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-07681-0.
Further reading
- McGraw Hill Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd Edition), C.B. Parker, 1994, ISBN 0-07-051400-3
- Thermodynamics, From Concepts to Applications (2nd Edition), A. Shavit, C. Gutfinger, CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group, USA), 2009, ISBN 9781420073683
- Chemical Thermodynamics, D.J.G. Ives, University Chemistry, Macdonald Technical and Scientific, 1971, ISBN 0-356-03736-3
- Elements of Statistical Thermodynamics (2nd Edition), L.K. Nash, Principles of Chemistry, Addison-Wesley, 1974, ISBN 0-201-05229-6
- Statistical Physics (2nd Edition), F. Mandl, Manchester Physics, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 9780471566588
External links
- Thermodynamic Potentials – Georgia State University
- Chemical Potential Energy: The 'Characteristic' vs the Concentration-Dependent Kind
A thermodynamic potential or more accurately a thermodynamic potential energy is a scalar quantity used to represent the thermodynamic state of a system Just as in mechanics where potential energy is defined as capacity to do work similarly different potentials have different meanings The concept of thermodynamic potentials was introduced by Pierre Duhem in 1886 Josiah Willard Gibbs in his papers used the term fundamental functions While thermodynamic potentials cannot be measured directly they can be predicted using computational chemistry One main thermodynamic potential that has a physical interpretation is the internal energy U It is the energy of configuration of a given system of conservative forces that is why it is called potential and only has meaning with respect to a defined set of references or data Expressions for all other thermodynamic energy potentials are derivable via Legendre transforms from an expression for U In other words each thermodynamic potential is equivalent to other thermodynamic potentials each potential is a different expression of the others In thermodynamics external forces such as gravity are counted as contributing to total energy rather than to thermodynamic potentials For example the working fluid in a steam engine sitting on top of Mount Everest has higher total energy due to gravity than it has at the bottom of the Mariana Trench but the same thermodynamic potentials This is because the gravitational potential energy belongs to the total energy rather than to thermodynamic potentials such as internal energy Description and interpretationFive common thermodynamic potentials are Name Symbol Formula Natural variablesInternal energy U displaystyle U TdS pdV imidNi displaystyle int left T mathrm d S p mathrm d V sum i mu i mathrm d N i right S V Ni displaystyle S V N i Helmholtz free energy A displaystyle A U TS displaystyle U TS T V Ni displaystyle T V N i Enthalpy H displaystyle H U pV displaystyle U pV S p Ni displaystyle S p N i Gibbs free energy G displaystyle G U pV TS displaystyle U pV TS T p Ni displaystyle T p N i Landau potential or grand potential W displaystyle Omega FG displaystyle Phi text G U TS displaystyle U TS i displaystyle sum i miNi displaystyle mu i N i T V mi displaystyle T V mu i where T temperature S entropy p pressure V volume Ni is the number of particles of type i in the system and mi is the chemical potential for an i type particle The set of all Ni are also included as natural variables but may be ignored when no chemical reactions are occurring which cause them to change The Helmholtz free energy is in ISO IEC standard called Helmholtz energy or Helmholtz function It is often denoted by the symbol F but the use of A is preferred by IUPAC ISO and IEC These five common potentials are all potential energies but there are also entropy potentials The thermodynamic square can be used as a tool to recall and derive some of the potentials Just as in mechanics where potential energy is defined as capacity to do work similarly different potentials have different meanings like the below Internal energy U is the capacity to do work plus the capacity to release heat Gibbs energy G is the capacity to do non mechanical work Enthalpy H is the capacity to do non mechanical work plus the capacity to release heat Helmholtz energy F is the capacity to do mechanical work plus non mechanical work From these meanings which actually apply in specific conditions e g constant pressure temperature etc for positive changes e g DU gt 0 we can say that DU is the energy added to the system DF is the total work done on it DG is the non mechanical work done on it and DH is the sum of non mechanical work done on the system and the heat given to it Note that the sum of internal energy is conserved but the sum of Gibbs energy or Helmholtz energy are not conserved despite being named energy They can be better interpreted as the potential to perform useful work and the potential can be wasted Thermodynamic potentials are very useful when calculating the equilibrium results of a chemical reaction or when measuring the properties of materials in a chemical reaction The chemical reactions usually take place under some constraints such as constant pressure and temperature or constant entropy and volume and when this is true there is a corresponding thermodynamic potential that comes into play Just as in mechanics the system will tend towards a lower value of a potential and at equilibrium under these constraints the potential will take the unchanging minimum value The thermodynamic potentials can also be used to estimate the total amount of energy available from a thermodynamic system under the appropriate constraint In particular see principle of minimum energy for a derivation When the entropy S and external parameters e g volume of a closed system are held constant the internal energy U decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium This follows from the first and second laws of thermodynamics and is called the principle of minimum energy The following three statements are directly derivable from this principle When the temperature T and external parameters of a closed system are held constant the Helmholtz free energy F decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium When the pressure p and external parameters of a closed system are held constant the enthalpy H decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium When the temperature T pressure p and external parameters of a closed system are held constant the Gibbs free energy G decreases and reaches a minimum value at equilibrium Natural variablesFor each thermodynamic potential there are thermodynamic variables that need to be held constant to specify the potential value at a thermodynamical equilibrium state such as independent variables for a mathematical function These variables are termed the natural variables of that potential The natural variables are important not only to specify the potential value at the equilibrium but also because if a thermodynamic potential can be determined as a function of its natural variables all of the thermodynamic properties of the system can be found by taking partial derivatives of that potential with respect to its natural variables and this is true for no other combination of variables If a thermodynamic potential is not given as a function of its natural variables it will not in general yield all of the thermodynamic properties of the system The set of natural variables for each of the above four thermodynamic potentials is formed from a combination of the T S p V variables excluding any pairs of conjugate variables there is no natural variable set for a potential including the T S or p V variables together as conjugate variables for energy An exception for this rule is the Ni mi conjugate pairs as there is no reason to ignore these in the thermodynamic potentials and in fact we may additionally define the four potentials for each species Using IUPAC notation in which the brackets contain the natural variables other than the main four we have Thermodynamic potential name Formula Natural variablesInternal energy U mj U mjNj displaystyle U mu j U mu j N j S V Ni j mj displaystyle S V N i neq j mu j Helmholtz free energy F mj U TS mjNj displaystyle F mu j U TS mu j N j T V Ni j mj displaystyle T V N i neq j mu j Enthalpy H mj U pV mjNj displaystyle H mu j U pV mu j N j S p Ni j mj displaystyle S p N i neq j mu j Gibbs energy G mj U pV TS mjNj displaystyle G mu j U pV TS mu j N j T p Ni j mj displaystyle T p N i neq j mu j If there is only one species then we are done But if there are say two species then there will be additional potentials such as U m1 m2 U m1N1 m2N2 displaystyle U mu 1 mu 2 U mu 1 N 1 mu 2 N 2 and so on If there are D dimensions to the thermodynamic space then there are 2D unique thermodynamic potentials For the most simple case a single phase ideal gas there will be three dimensions yielding eight thermodynamic potentials Fundamental equationsThe definitions of the thermodynamic potentials may be differentiated and along with the first and second laws of thermodynamics a set of differential equations known as the fundamental equations follow Actually they are all expressions of the same fundamental thermodynamic relation but are expressed in different variables By the first law of thermodynamics any differential change in the internal energy U of a system can be written as the sum of heat flowing into the system subtracted by the work done by the system on the environment along with any change due to the addition of new particles to the system dU dQ dW imidNi displaystyle mathrm d U delta Q delta W sum i mu i mathrm d N i where dQ is the infinitesimal heat flow into the system and dW is the infinitesimal work done by the system mi is the chemical potential of particle type i and Ni is the number of the type i particles Neither dQ nor dW are exact differentials i e they are thermodynamic process path dependent Small changes in these variables are therefore represented with d rather than d By the second law of thermodynamics we can express the internal energy change in terms of state functions and their differentials In case of reversible changes we have dQ TdS displaystyle delta Q T mathrm d S dW pdV displaystyle delta W p mathrm d V where T is temperature S is entropy p is pressure and V is volume and the equality holds for reversible processes This leads to the standard differential form of the internal energy in case of a quasistatic reversible change dU TdS pdV imidNi displaystyle mathrm d U T mathrm d S p mathrm d V sum i mu i mathrm d N i Since U S and V are thermodynamic functions of state also called state functions the above relation also holds for arbitrary non reversible changes If the system has more external variables than just the volume that can change the fundamental thermodynamic relation generalizes to dU TdS pdV jmjdNj iXidxi displaystyle dU T mathrm d S p mathrm d V sum j mu j mathrm d N j sum i X i mathrm d x i Here the Xi are the generalized forces corresponding to the external variables xi Applying Legendre transforms repeatedly the following differential relations hold for the four potentials fundamental thermodynamic equations or fundamental thermodynamic relation dU displaystyle mathrm d U displaystyle TdS displaystyle T mathrm d S displaystyle pdV displaystyle p mathrm d V imidNi displaystyle sum i mu i mathrm d N i dF displaystyle mathrm d F displaystyle displaystyle SdT displaystyle S mathrm d T displaystyle pdV displaystyle p mathrm d V imidNi displaystyle sum i mu i mathrm d N i dH displaystyle mathrm d H displaystyle TdS displaystyle T mathrm d S displaystyle Vdp displaystyle V mathrm d p imidNi displaystyle sum i mu i mathrm d N i dG displaystyle mathrm d G displaystyle displaystyle SdT displaystyle S mathrm d T displaystyle Vdp displaystyle V mathrm d p imidNi displaystyle sum i mu i mathrm d N i The infinitesimals on the right hand side of each of the above equations are of the natural variables of the potential on the left hand side Similar equations can be developed for all of the other thermodynamic potentials of the system There will be one fundamental equation for each thermodynamic potential resulting in a total of 2D fundamental equations The differences between the four thermodynamic potentials can be summarized as follows d pV dH dU dG dF displaystyle mathrm d pV mathrm d H mathrm d U mathrm d G mathrm d F d TS dU dF dH dG displaystyle mathrm d TS mathrm d U mathrm d F mathrm d H mathrm d G Equations of stateWe can use the above equations to derive some differential definitions of some thermodynamic parameters If we define F to stand for any of the thermodynamic potentials then the above equations are of the form dF ixidyi displaystyle mathrm d Phi sum i x i mathrm d y i where xi and yi are conjugate pairs and the yi are the natural variables of the potential F From the chain rule it follows that xj F yj yi j displaystyle x j left frac partial Phi partial y j right y i neq j where yi j is the set of all natural variables of F except yj that are held as constants This yields expressions for various thermodynamic parameters in terms of the derivatives of the potentials with respect to their natural variables These equations are known as equations of state since they specify parameters of the thermodynamic state If we restrict ourselves to the potentials U Internal energy F Helmholtz energy H Enthalpy and G Gibbs energy then we have the following equations of state subscripts showing natural variables that are held as constants T U S V Ni H S p Ni displaystyle T left frac partial U partial S right V N i left frac partial H partial S right p N i p U V S Ni F V T Ni displaystyle p left frac partial U partial V right S N i left frac partial F partial V right T N i V H p S Ni G p T Ni displaystyle V left frac partial H partial p right S N i left frac partial G partial p right T N i S G T p Ni F T V Ni displaystyle S left frac partial G partial T right p N i left frac partial F partial T right V N i mj ϕ Nj X Y Ni j displaystyle mu j left frac partial phi partial N j right X Y N i neq j where in the last equation ϕ is any of the thermodynamic potentials U F H or G and X Y Ni j displaystyle X Y N i neq j are the set of natural variables for that potential excluding Ni If we use all thermodynamic potentials then we will have more equations of state such as Nj U mj mj S V Ni j displaystyle N j left frac partial U mu j partial mu j right S V N i neq j and so on In all if the thermodynamic space is D dimensions then there will be D equations for each potential resulting in a total of D 2D equations of state because 2D thermodynamic potentials exist If the D equations of state for a particular potential are known then the fundamental equation for that potential i e the exact differential of the thermodynamic potential can be determined This means that all thermodynamic information about the system will be known because the fundamental equations for any other potential can be found via the Legendre transforms and the corresponding equations of state for each potential as partial derivatives of the potential can also be found Measurement of thermodynamic potentialsThe above equations of state suggest methods to experimentally measure changes in the thermodynamic potentials using physically measurable parameters For example the free energy expressions V G p T Ni displaystyle V left frac partial G partial p right T N i and p F V T Ni displaystyle p left frac partial F partial V right T N i can be integrated at constant temperature and quantities to obtain DG P1P2Vdp displaystyle Delta G int P1 P2 V mathrm d p at constant T Nj DF V1V2pdV displaystyle Delta F int V1 V2 p mathrm d V at constant T Nj which can be measured by monitoring the measurable variables of pressure temperature and volume Changes in the enthalpy and internal energy can be measured by calorimetry which measures the amount of heat DQ released or absorbed by a system The expressions T U S V Ni H S p Ni displaystyle T left frac partial U partial S right V N i left frac partial H partial S right p N i can be integrated DH S1S2TdS DQ displaystyle Delta H int S1 S2 T mathrm d S Delta Q at constant P Nj DU S1S2TdS DQ displaystyle Delta U int S1 S2 T mathrm d S Delta Q at constant V Nj Note that these measurements are made at constant Nj and are therefore not applicable to situations in which chemical reactions take place Maxwell relationsAgain define xi and yi to be conjugate pairs and the yi to be the natural variables of some potential F We may take the cross differentials of the state equations which obey the following relationship yj F yk yi k yi j yk F yj yi j yi k displaystyle left frac partial partial y j left frac partial Phi partial y k right y i neq k right y i neq j left frac partial partial y k left frac partial Phi partial y j right y i neq j right y i neq k From these we get the Maxwell relations There will be D 1 2 of them for each potential giving a total of D D 1 2 equations in all If we restrict ourselves the U F H G T V S Ni p S V Ni displaystyle left frac partial T partial V right S N i left frac partial p partial S right V N i T p S Ni V S p Ni displaystyle left frac partial T partial p right S N i left frac partial V partial S right p N i S V T Ni p T V Ni displaystyle left frac partial S partial V right T N i left frac partial p partial T right V N i S p T Ni V T p Ni displaystyle left frac partial S partial p right T N i left frac partial V partial T right p N i Using the equations of state involving the chemical potential we get equations such as T Nj V S Ni j mj S V Ni displaystyle left frac partial T partial N j right V S N i neq j left frac partial mu j partial S right V N i and using the other potentials we can get equations such as Nj V S mj Ni j p mj S V Ni j displaystyle left frac partial N j partial V right S mu j N i neq j left frac partial p partial mu j right S V N i neq j Nj Nk S V mj Ni j k mk mj S V Ni j displaystyle left frac partial N j partial N k right S V mu j N i neq j k left frac partial mu k partial mu j right S V N i neq j Euler relationsAgain define xi and yi to be conjugate pairs and the yi to be the natural variables of the internal energy Since all of the natural variables of the internal energy U are extensive quantities U ayi aU yi displaystyle U alpha y i alpha U y i it follows from Euler s homogeneous function theorem that the internal energy can be written as U yi jyj U yj yi j displaystyle U y i sum j y j left frac partial U partial y j right y i neq j From the equations of state we then have U TS pV imiNi displaystyle U TS pV sum i mu i N i This formula is known as an Euler relation because Euler s theorem on homogeneous functions leads to it It was not discovered by Euler in an investigation of thermodynamics which did not exist in his day Substituting into the expressions for the other main potentials we have F pV imiNi displaystyle F pV sum i mu i N i H TS imiNi displaystyle H TS sum i mu i N i G imiNi displaystyle G sum i mu i N i As in the above sections this process can be carried out on all of the other thermodynamic potentials Thus there is another Euler relation based on the expression of entropy as a function of internal energy and other extensive variables Yet other Euler relations hold for other fundamental equations for energy or entropy as respective functions of other state variables including some intensive state variables Gibbs Duhem relationDeriving the Gibbs Duhem equation from basic thermodynamic state equations is straightforward Equating any thermodynamic potential definition with its Euler relation expression yields U TS PV imiNi displaystyle U TS PV sum i mu i N i Differentiating and using the second law dU TdS PdV imidNi displaystyle mathrm d U T mathrm d S P mathrm d V sum i mu i mathrm d N i yields 0 SdT VdP iNidmi displaystyle 0 S mathrm d T V mathrm d P sum i N i mathrm d mu i Which is the Gibbs Duhem relation The Gibbs Duhem is a relationship among the intensive parameters of the system It follows that for a simple system with I components there will be I 1 independent parameters or degrees of freedom For example a simple system with a single component will have two degrees of freedom and may be specified by only two parameters such as pressure and volume for example The law is named after Josiah Willard Gibbs and Pierre Duhem Stability conditionsAs the internal energy is a convex function of entropy and volume the stability condition requires that the second derivative of internal energy with entropy or volume to be positive It is commonly expressed as d2U gt 0 displaystyle d 2 U gt 0 Since the maximum principle of entropy is equivalent to minimum principle of internal energy the combined criteria for stability or thermodynamic equilibrium is expressed as d2U gt 0 displaystyle d 2 U gt 0 and dU 0 displaystyle dU 0 for parameters entropy and volume This is analogous to d2S lt 0 displaystyle d 2 S lt 0 and dS 0 displaystyle dS 0 condition for entropy at equilibrium The same concept can be applied to the various thermodynamic potentials by identifying if they are convex or concave of respective their variables 2F T2 V N 0 displaystyle biggl partial 2 F over partial T 2 biggr V N leq 0 and 2F V2 T N 0 displaystyle biggl partial 2 F over partial V 2 biggr T N geq 0 Where Helmholtz energy is a concave function of temperature and convex function of volume 2H P2 S N 0 displaystyle biggl partial 2 H over partial P 2 biggr S N leq 0 and 2H S2 P N 0 displaystyle biggl partial 2 H over partial S 2 biggr P N geq 0 Where enthalpy is a concave function of pressure and convex function of entropy 2G T2 P N 0 displaystyle biggl partial 2 G over partial T 2 biggr P N leq 0 and 2G P2 T N 0 displaystyle biggl partial 2 G over partial P 2 biggr T N leq 0 Where Gibbs potential is a concave function of both pressure and temperature In general the thermodynamic potentials the internal energy and its Legendre transforms are convex functions of their extrinsic variables and concave functions of intrinsic variables The stability conditions impose that isothermal compressibility is positive and that for non negative temperature CP gt CV displaystyle C P gt C V Chemical reactionsChanges in these quantities are useful for assessing the degree to which a chemical reaction will proceed The relevant quantity depends on the reaction conditions as shown in the following table D denotes the change in the potential and at equilibrium the change will be zero Constant V Constant pConstant S DU DHConstant T DF DG Most commonly one considers reactions at constant p and T so the Gibbs free energy is the most useful potential in studies of chemical reactions See alsoCoomber s relationshipNotesISO IEC 80000 5 Quantities an units Part 5 Thermodynamics item 5 20 4 Helmholtz energy Helmholtz function ISO IEC 80000 5 Quantities an units Part 5 Thermodynamics item 5 20 5 Gibbs energy Gibbs function Nitzke Isabel Stephan Simon Vrabec Jadran 2024 06 03 Topology of thermodynamic potentials using physical models Helmholtz Gibbs Grand and Null The Journal of Chemical Physics 160 21 doi 10 1063 5 0207592 ISSN 0021 9606 Alberty 2001 p 1353 Alberty 2001 p 1376 ISO IEC 80000 5 2007 item 5 20 4 Tykodi R J 1995 02 01 Spontaneity Accessibility Irreversibility Useful Work The Availability Function the Helmholtz Function and the Gibbs Function Journal of Chemical Education 72 2 103 Bibcode 1995JChEd 72 103T doi 10 1021 ed072p103 ISSN 0021 9584 Callen 1985 p 153 Alberty 2001 p 1352 Alberty 2001 p 1355 Alberty 2001 p 1354 For example ionic species Nj measured in moles held at a certain potential Vj will include the term jVjdqj F jVjzjdNj displaystyle sum j V j mathrm d q j F sum j V j z j mathrm d N j where F is the Faraday constant and zj is the multiple of the elementary charge of the ion Callen 1985 p 37 Callen 1985 p 181 Callen H B 1960 1985 Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics second edition John Wiley amp Sons Hoboken NY ISBN 9780471862567 pp 59 60 Bailyn M 1994 A Survey of Thermodynamics American Institute of Physics AIP Press Woodbury NY ISBN 0883187973 pp 215 216 Callen H B 1960 1985 Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics second edition John Wiley amp Sons Hoboken NY ISBN 9780471862567 pp 137 148 Moran amp Shapiro p 538 Callen 1985 p 60 W Tschoegl N 2000 Fundamentals of Equilibrium and Steady State Thermodynamics Elsevier ISBN 978 0 444 50426 5 OCLC 1003633034 a href wiki Template Cite book title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Callen Herbert B 2005 Thermodynamics and an introduction to thermostatistics 2nd ed New Delhi John Wiley amp Sons pp 203 210 ISBN 978 81 265 0812 9 OCLC 663862636 ReferencesAlberty R A 2001 Use of Legendre transforms in chemical thermodynamics PDF Pure Appl Chem 73 8 1349 1380 doi 10 1351 pac200173081349 Callen Herbert B 1985 Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics 2nd ed New York John Wiley amp Sons ISBN 978 0 471 86256 7 Moran Michael J Shapiro Howard N 1996 Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics 3rd ed New York Toronto J Wiley amp Sons ISBN 978 0 471 07681 0 Further readingMcGraw Hill Encyclopaedia of Physics 2nd Edition C B Parker 1994 ISBN 0 07 051400 3 Thermodynamics From Concepts to Applications 2nd Edition A Shavit C Gutfinger CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group USA 2009 ISBN 9781420073683 Chemical Thermodynamics D J G Ives University Chemistry Macdonald Technical and Scientific 1971 ISBN 0 356 03736 3 Elements of Statistical Thermodynamics 2nd Edition L K Nash Principles of Chemistry Addison Wesley 1974 ISBN 0 201 05229 6 Statistical Physics 2nd Edition F Mandl Manchester Physics John Wiley amp Sons 2008 ISBN 9780471566588External linksThermodynamic Potentials Georgia State University Chemical Potential Energy The Characteristic vs the Concentration Dependent Kind