The Third Law of Thermodynamics

Description

London: Oxford University Press, 1961. — VIII + 142 p.: ill. — (Oxford library of the physical sciences).The Third Law was conceived in chemistry. Nernst originally put forward the Heat’Theorem which was to become the Third Law in order to predict the equilibrium conditions of chemical reactions. Since that time, however, the scope and significance of the Theorem have been steadily increased, largely by Nernst’s one-time pupil Simon. The Law is now a principle both of physics and chemistry, and the purpose of this book is to describe its wide range of application. I have attempted to cover all the significant aspects of the Third Law in a manner intelligible to an Honours undergraduate, and have therefore included a treatment of such elementary statistical mechanics as are necessary for an understanding of the Law.ContentsEntropy and probabilityEntropy and internal degrees of freedomThe third law of thermodynamicsThe third law and internal degrees of freedomThe statistical basis of the third lawNuclei and entropyChemical equilibriaThe unattainability of absolute zeroReferences and author indexSubject index