ABSTRACT

The basic principles of classical thermodynamics were established primarily as a result of phenomenological observations made over two centuries. These experiments, performed almost exclusively for the bulk phases, showed that the macroscopic system in the absence of external disturbances tends to an equilibrium state, characterized by a small number of thermodynamic variables. Studies of surface phenomena and, in particular, features of the influence of solid surfaces started much later, respectively, in the field and less accumulated experimental facts.