Physical Chemistry

Out Of Print... This book is intended primarily as a short course in physical chemistry for engineering students not specializing in chemistry, for whom a correct understanding of the nature of phenomena is of greater importance than a capacity to make formal computations of various physicochemical quantities. The second English edition differs from the first (Higher Schools Publishing House, 1968) in being made from the fourth Russian edition (1970) rather than the first, old material has been deleted, and additional material on the properties of solids, and of gases and crystals at very high temperatures, has been introduced. The material relating to the nature of chemical bonds in molecules and crystals and the properties of water has been slightly revised, and a survey of the donor-acceptor bond included. Material on very low temperature processes (superconductivity) and on the experimental study of molecular structure has been added. New designations of certain physical constants and methods of recording processes have been adopted in accordance with the recommendations of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and the new values of physical constants recommended by Cohen and Du Mond (1965) have been used. Name and subject indexes and a bibliography have been provided. The level of presentation is comprehensible for students with ordinary school chemistry and does not call for extra prior knowledge, particularly as regards mathematics. In deriving the various laws, emphasis has been put on the physical aspect of phenomena and a plethora of mathematical detail avoided, sometimes even at the expense of strictness of exposition. The material is extensively illustrated with graphs and examples from industrial practice. To avoid a one-sided outlook on the various phenomena, their complex nature has been stressed; chemical reactions, for example, are discussed thoroughly both from the kinetic and from the thermodynamic aspects. The section on the structure of matter has been presented mainly as an aid to understanding the physicochemical essence of phenomena. The influence of chemical composition and molecular structure on the state of a substance and on its thermodynamic functions is also treated. Material for more detailed acquaintance with the subject is given in small print. Sections marked with an asterisk, which deal with particular separate questions not essential to an understanding of the material following, can be omitted if required.