where H is the enthalpy, T the absolute temperature and G the Gibbs free energy of the system, all at constant pressurep. The equation states that the change in the G/T ratio at constant pressure as a result of an infinitesimally small change in temperature is a factor H/T2.
The typical applications of this equation are to chemical reactions. The equation reads:[7]
with ΔG as the change in Gibbs energy due to reaction, and ΔH as the enthalpy of reaction (often, but not necessarily, assumed to be independent of temperature). The o denotes the use of standard states, and particularly the choice of a particular standard pressure (1 bar), to calculate ΔG and ΔH.
Integrating with respect to T (again p is constant) yields:
Since the change in a system's Gibbs energy is equal to the maximum amount of non-expansion work that the system can do in a process, the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation may be used to estimate how much non-expansion work can be done by a chemical process as a function of temperature.[10] For example, the capacity of rechargeable electric batteries can be estimated as a function of temperature using the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation.[11]
The definition of the Gibbs function is where H is the enthalpy defined by:
Taking differentials of each definition to find dH and dG, then using the fundamental thermodynamic relation (always true for reversible or irreversibleprocesses):
where S is the entropy, V is volume, (minus sign due to reversibility, in which dU = 0: work other than pressure-volume may be done and is equal to −pV) leads to the "reversed" form of the initial fundamental relation into a new master equation:
Starting from the equation
for the differential of G, and remembering one computes the differential of the ratio G/T by applying the product rule of differentiation in the version for differentials:
Therefore,
A comparison with the general expression for a total differential
gives the change of G/T with respect to T at constant pressure (i.e. when dp = 0), the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation:
Sources
^von Helmholtz, Hermann (1882). "Die Thermodynamik chemischer Vorgange". Ber. KGL. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. I: 22–39.
^Pippard, Alfred B. (1981). "5: Useful ideas". Elements of classical thermodynamics: for advanced students of physics (Repr ed.). Cambridge: Univ. Pr. ISBN978-0-521-09101-5.
^Chemical Thermodynamics, D.J.G. Ives, University Chemistry, Macdonald Technical and Scientific, 1971, ISBN0-356-03736-3
^Chemistry, Matter, and the Universe, R.E. Dickerson, I. Geis, W.A. Benjamin Inc. (USA), 1976, ISBN0-19-855148-7
^Chemical Thermodynamics, D.J.G. Ives, University Chemistry, Macdonald Technical and Scientific, 1971, ISBN0-356-03736-3
^Gerasimov, Ya (1978). Physical Chemistry Volume 1 (1st ed.). Moscow: MIR Publishers. p. 118.
^Gerasimov, Ya (1978). Physical Chemistry Volume 2 (1st ed.). Moscow: MIR Publishers. p. 497.