Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-thermal-and-statistical-physics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/paper-1/1/c/solution
Past exam of the thermal and statistical physics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 Paper 1 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
For either phase, the entropy differential at fixed composition isThe pressure derivative uses the Maxwell relation from . Differentiating the equality of entropies along coexistence gives the general relationFor a differentiable coexistence curve with pressure varying, equality of Gibbs free energies also implies . Since , the two phases then share . Thus, with ,This is the Ehrenfest entropy-continuity relation. Entropy equality alone would give without the shared-volume condition; a constant-pressure boundary or vanishing discontinuities needs separate limiting analysis.
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