On discontinuities in the energy and the specific heat

✍ Scribed by A. Bijl

• Book ID: 104161012
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1934
• Weight: 773 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0031-8914
• DOI: 10.1016/s0031-8914(34)80311-4

✦ Synopsis

The transition of a substance from one structure into another is considered as a process of association. Equilibrium conditions for an associating system are derived (II). It is shown that the ,,degree of association" increases with decreasing temperature; the two possibilities are: a) this process is continuous, if the larger associated groups have an ,,a-priori" probability that is larger than or equal to that of the smaller groups; b) it is discontinuous if the larger groups are more improbable (surface energy) (!II). Two different kinds of discontinuities are possible, if the interaction is accounted for: b~) a discontinuity in the energy (with a possibility for supercooled states) when the interaction causes a decrease of the association; b2) a discontinuity an the specific heat when the interaction increases association (IV). As illustrations the condensation of a gas and the transition of NaNO~ are discussed (V).