Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-1/4/b/ii/solution

At coexistence of the two pure solid forms, their chemical potentials are equal and . Treating the tabulated enthalpy and entropy differences as constant gives
Above this temperature the model favours the higher-entropy yellow form; below it the red form is favoured. This is a prediction from the given thermodynamic data, not a guarantee of an immediately visible colour change: kinetic trapping, particle-size effects and temperature-dependent heat capacities are not included. A ratio of masses of two coexisting pure solids is not the equilibrium constant, since their bulk solid activities are each unity.

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