Phase rule

In thermodynamics, the phase rule is a general principle governing "pVT" systems, whose thermodynamic states are completely described by the variables pressure (p), volume (V) and temperature (T), in thermodynamic equilibrium. If F is the number of degrees of freedom, C is the number of components and P is the number of phases, then It was derived by American physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs in his landmark paper titled On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances, published in parts between 1875 and 1878. The rule assumes the components do not react with each other. The number of degrees of freedom is the number of independent intensive variables, i.e. the largest number of thermodynamic parameters such as temperature or pressure that can be varied simultaneously and arbitrarily without determining one another. An example of one-component system is a system involving one pure chemical, while two-component systems, such as mixtures of water and ethanol, have two chemically independent components, and so on. Typical phases are solids, liquids and gases. A phase is a form of matter that is homogeneous in chemical composition and physical state. Typical phases are solid, liquid and gas. Two immiscible liquids (or liquid mixtures with different compositions) separated by a distinct boundary are counted as two different phases, as are two immiscible solids. The number of components (C) is the number of chemically independent constituents of the system, i.e. the minimum number of independent species necessary to define the composition of all phases of the system. The number of degrees of freedom (F) in this context is the number of intensive variables which are independent of each other. The basis for the rule is that equilibrium between phases places a constraint on the intensive variables. More rigorously, since the phases are in thermodynamic equilibrium with each other, the chemical potentials of the phases must be equal. The number of equality relationships determines the number of degrees of freedom.