- #1
dRic2
Hi, i'll apologize for my english in advance, so here's the question.
I was wondering about the equilibrium condition for a chemical reaction. We know that a closed system is in equilibrium if the Gibbs free energy's function has a minimun in that point. So, taking Temperature and Pressure as constants (to ease the calculations) the first differential of Gibbs function would be:
[itex] dG = ∑u_idn_i = 0 [/itex] (where ## u_i ## is the chemical potential and ##dn_i## is the infinitesimal variation of moles )
Defying the Extent of Reaction as
[itex]d\lambda = dn_i/v_i[/itex] (where ##v_i## is the stoichiometric coefficient)
the formula can be re-arranged as
[itex] dG = ∑u_i(d\lambda v_i) = d\lambda(∑u_iv_i) = 0[/itex]
then I don't get why my book says that ##d\lambda## is an "arbitrary variation" thus it simplifies in ## ∑u_iv_i = 0 ##
I mean if it is an equilibrium why would ##dn## be "arbitrary"? It should be zero because we can not have a variation in the composition of the system because, at the equilibrium, the properties of the system should remain unchanged.
I was wondering about the equilibrium condition for a chemical reaction. We know that a closed system is in equilibrium if the Gibbs free energy's function has a minimun in that point. So, taking Temperature and Pressure as constants (to ease the calculations) the first differential of Gibbs function would be:
[itex] dG = ∑u_idn_i = 0 [/itex] (where ## u_i ## is the chemical potential and ##dn_i## is the infinitesimal variation of moles )
Defying the Extent of Reaction as
[itex]d\lambda = dn_i/v_i[/itex] (where ##v_i## is the stoichiometric coefficient)
the formula can be re-arranged as
[itex] dG = ∑u_i(d\lambda v_i) = d\lambda(∑u_iv_i) = 0[/itex]
then I don't get why my book says that ##d\lambda## is an "arbitrary variation" thus it simplifies in ## ∑u_iv_i = 0 ##
I mean if it is an equilibrium why would ##dn## be "arbitrary"? It should be zero because we can not have a variation in the composition of the system because, at the equilibrium, the properties of the system should remain unchanged.