Trends in Physical Properties of Group 17 Elements

During the period 1811-1886, the halogens were discovered. They are non-metallic elements such as: Fluorine (F), Chlorine (Cl), Bromine (Br), Iodine (I) and astatine (At) which are the members of the halogen family. This family constitutes the group 17 of the periodic table. The word halogens have been derived from the Greek word “Halo” that … Read more

Gibbs’ Free Energy Function

All spontaneous processes tend to achieve a state of minimum energy and maximum entropy. For a system, generally it is not possible to achieve both, the minimum energy and maximum entropy simultaneously. There are cases where either of the two factors is favourable. For example, many endothermic reactions are spontaneous because the favourable entropy factor … Read more