Applied thermodynamics of the real gas with respect to the thermodynamic zeros of the entropy and internal energy

Gibbs's work on the thermodynamic properties of substances Ill presented a complete thermodynamic theory. The formulations of the entropy S and internal energy U as extensive quantities allow the zeros of the real gas to be given: S=0 at absolute zero (Nernst, Planck) and U=0 at the critical point. Consequently, every thermodynamic function is unique and absolutely specified. Interdependences among quantities such as temperature, vapor pressure, chemical potential, volume, entropy, internal energy, and heat capacity are likewise unique and numerically well defined. This is shown for the saturated fluid, water, in the region between absolute zero and the critical point. As a consequence of the calculation of the chemical potential, it follows that the free particle flow in an inhomogeneous system is essentially governed by the difference in chemical potential, and not through the difference in pressure, this effect being of importance for meteorology and oceanography. (C) 2012 Elsevier BY. All rights reserved.