| free energy n.
|
free energy n.
A thermodynamic quantity that is the difference between a system's internal energy and the product of its absolute temperature and entropy; the portion of total energy of a natural system that can be used for work.
| free energy
A thermodynamic quantity that is the difference between the internal energy of a system and the product of its absolute temperature and entropy. Free energy is a measure of the capacity of the system to do work. If its value is negative, the system will have a tendency to do work spontaneously, as in an exothermic chemical reaction. Free energy is measured in kilojoules per mole. Also called Gibbs free energy. |