Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-2/section-c/c8/b/solution

At coexistence, the two phases of a pure substance have equal chemical potential, or equivalently equal molar Gibbs free energy:
For either phase, . Move an infinitesimal distance along the coexistence curve, where the equality must remain true. Subtracting the two differentials gives
A reversible transformation at this common temperature absorbs latent heat . Thus
The derivation assumes thermodynamic equilibrium between two bulk phases of a single pure substance, with the same temperature and pressure, and only ordinary pressure-volume work. Surface-curvature shifts, additional external-field work and composition changes are omitted. It applies to a first-order phase boundary where the latent heat and volume discontinuity are defined. No ideal-gas assumption and no constant- assumption are needed for this differential relation. At the critical endpoint both discontinuities vanish, so their ratio requires a limiting treatment rather than direct substitution of two zeros.

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