Promising Vistas for Applied Chemical Thermodynamics: Statistical Mechanics As a First Step Toward Thermodynamic Properties

When statistical mechanics is coupled with concepts from physical chemistry, useful results for condensed systems can often be obtained; perhaps the best-known example is Flory‘s derivation of a remarkably sample formula for the configurational entropy of mixing a long-chain polymer with a solvent. For obtaining quantitative thermodynamic properties, statistical mechanics alone is not sufficient; it is also essential to construct a carefully-considered physical model that is simple enough for easy calculations but also sufficiently realistic to represent physical phenomena.

While this procedure is not new, during the last generation, its application for chemical engineering has grown extensively in part, due to the leadership of Carol Hall. To illustrate, some examples from the literature are reviewed. While these examples may or may not refer directly to Carol’s published work, they all exhibit the beneficial influence of her research philosophy.