Maxwell Relations

#Physics
Relates second partial derivatives of thermodynamic energies with each other

Example

  • $\displaystyle \mathrm{d}U=\tau \mathrm{d}\sigma-P\mathrm{d}V$
    • Start with the differential of a thermodynamic energy
  • $\displaystyle \frac{ \partial U }{ \partial \sigma } =\tau,\frac{ \partial U }{ \partial V } =P$
    • Take partial derivatives
  • $\displaystyle \frac{ \partial^2 U}{ \partial V\partial \sigma}=\frac{ \partial^2 U}{ \partial \sigma\partial V}=\left( \frac{ \partial \tau }{ \partial V } \right){\sigma}=\left( \frac{ \partial P }{ \partial \sigma } \right){V}$
    • Equate the second partial derivatives
Thermodynamic EnergyDifferential ExpressionMaxwell Relation
$\displaystyle U$$\displaystyle \mathrm{d}U=\tau \mathrm{d}\sigma-P\mathrm{d}V$$\displaystyle \left( \frac{ \partial \tau }{ \partial V } \right){\sigma}=-\left( \frac{ \partial P }{ \partial \sigma } \right){V}$
$\displaystyle H$$\displaystyle \mathrm{d}H=\tau \mathrm{d}\sigma+V\mathrm{d}P$$\displaystyle \left( \frac{ \partial \tau }{ \partial P } \right){\sigma}=\left( \frac{ \partial V }{ \partial \sigma } \right){P}$
$\displaystyle F$$\displaystyle \mathrm{d}F=-\sigma \mathrm{d}\tau-P\mathrm{d}V$$\displaystyle \left( \frac{ \partial \sigma }{ \partial V } \right){\tau}=\left( \frac{ \partial P }{ \partial \tau } \right){V}$
$\displaystyle G$$\displaystyle \mathrm{d}G=-\sigma \mathrm{d}\tau+V\mathrm{d}P$$\displaystyle -\left( \frac{ \partial \sigma }{ \partial P } \right){\tau}=\left( \frac{ \partial V }{ \partial \tau } \right){P}$