25.1: Introduction
- Page ID
- 32738
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The Ellingham Diagram, originally constructed for oxides, is a tool to find a variety of thermodynamic data quickly, without the need for repetitive calculation.
The diagram is essentially a graph representing the thermodynamic driving force for a particular reaction to occur, across a range of temperatures. With the data for several reactions plotted on the same graph, the relative stabilities of different elements with respect to, for example, their oxides, can be seen. It is also possible to compare the relative driving force for an element for oxidation or sulphidation in an environment containing both oxygen and sulphur as reactants.