Handbook

This course will provide students with an understanding of thermodynamic functions and properties of materials (chemical, mechanical and physical). The course will introduce the laws of thermodynamics and their application, with an emphasis on thermodynamics of materials formation and transformation, as well as the fundamentals of chemical equilibrium and gas-solid equilibria. Specific topics and techniques covered include Ellingham diagrams; electrochemistry: Pourbaix diagrams; thermodynamics of solutions; Raoult’s and Henry’s Law, fugacity and activity, the Clausius Clapeyron Equation; and the construction and interpretation of 2 component phase diagrams and phase rules.

The course will be delivered through lectures and laboratory activities and is designed for students in the second year of their materials science and engineering degrees.