GIBB’S FREE ENERGY
SPONTANEOUS PROCESSES
A reaction that does occur under a
given set of conditions is called
spontaneous reaction.
- Burning is an example of
spontaneous reaction.
Nonspontaneous if a reaction does not
occur under specified conditions. An
example for this is photosynthesis.
In order to determine the spontaneity
of a certain process, we should know two
things about the system. One is change in
enthalpy and the other one is change in
entropy.
ENTHALPY
Enthalpy or heat energy is the stored
heat energy or chemical potential energy
that is released when a reaction takes
place
Enthalpy change, ∆H - change in the
heat content of a chemical system after a
reaction.
Entropy (represented by S) is described
as the measure of the randomness or
disorder of a system.
The greater the disorder of a system,
the greater its entropy. And the more
ordered the system, the smaller its
entropy.
A positive entropy means increasing
disorder just like during evaporation
(liquid to gas) or melting (solid to liquid).
A negative entropy is the one with
greater order as in condensation of water
vapor (gas to liquid) or in the case of
formation of a solid precipitate in a
chemical reaction where the reactants are
in liquid form.
Gibbs free energy, denoted G,
combines enthalpy and entropy into a
single value.
A spontaneous endothermic reaction
can occur when the changes in enthalpy
and entropy yield a negative Gibbs free
energy. An endothermic reaction can be
spontaneous if entropy increases by more
than the change in enthalpy.
A balance between ∆H and ∆S
determines whether the system or
reaction will proceed spontaneously or
not. Gibbs free energy, denoted G,
combines enthalpy and entropy into a
single value.
∆G = ∆H - T∆S
The change in free energy, ΔG, is equal
to the sum of the enthalpy plus the
product of the temperature and entropy
of the system
If ΔG is positive, then the reaction is
nonspontaneous (meaning, and the input
of external energy is necessary for the
reaction to occur) and if it is negative,
then it is spontaneous (meaning, occurs
without external energy input).
If ΔG= 0, the system is at equilibrium
and there is no net change either in
forward or reverse direction
The greater the disorder of the particles
the more positive the change in entropy
(∆S) will be. The reverse is also true; the
less disorder results in more negative
entropy.