The most important thermodynamic quantity for the practicing chemist is the Gibbs free-energy change, ∆G, which accompanies any reaction. This can be calculated from the standard free energy of formation, ∆Gf°, of the species involved. Unfortunately this quantity is found scattered throughout the chemical literature and presented using many conventions.
This book provides a standard reference for chemists, particularly in the field of high-temperature chemistry, solid-state research, and materials research. The author has assembled, in the form of charts and tables, published free-energy data for binary compounds of the metals with the gaseous nonmetallic elements hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, fluorine, and chlorine. In addition he has collected new data on the metal bromides, iodides, selenides, and tellurides, as well as on the vaporization of the elements, molecular dissociation of the gaseous elements, and ionization of the elements.
Plastic overlays and scales are provided that can be used to read the composition of reacting gases, equilibrium constants, EMF, and other useful thermodynamic quantities directly from the charts. The accompanying text discusses the use of the data for various chemical calculations, while sources and accuracy of the data are discussed in the appendixes.