The Free Energy and the Chemical Equilibrium: Combining the Laws of Thermodynamics
In this section, we will build up our concepts about the 3 laws of thermodynamics (the 1st, 2nd, and the 3rd laws of thermodynamics) to bring the concept of spontaneity of reactions based on new parameter which is the free energy. In this section, there are 2 types of free energy which are the Helmholtz and Gibbs free energies, and we will have a deeper discussion in Gibbs free energy because it is used more common in chemistry. Furthermore, we will see briefly how the free energy is related to the equilibrium process. Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (left) and Josiah Willard Gibbs (right) The founders of the concept of free energies