Deciphering the physical meaning of Gibbs’s maximum work equation by Hanlon, Robert T.

“…Willard Gibbs derived the following equation to quantify the maximum work possible for a chemical reaction $${\text{Maximum work }} = \, - \Delta {\text{G}}_{{{\text{rxn}}}} = \, - \left( {\Delta {\text{H}}_{{{\text{rxn}}}} {-}{\text{ T}}\Delta {\text{S}}_{{{\text{rxn}}}} } \right) {\text{ constant T}},{\text{P}}$$ Maximum work = - Δ G rxn = - Δ H rxn - T Δ S rxn constant T , P ∆Hrxn is the enthalpy change of reaction as measured in a reaction calorimeter and ∆Grxn the change in Gibbs energy as measured, if feasible, in an electrochemical cell by the voltage across the two half-cells. …”
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