ABSTRACT
Thermodynamics and Kinetics In the selection of materials, an engineer wishes to select those materials that are thermodynamically stable in the service environment. Because this is a particularly difficult task, a knowledge of thermodynamics and kinetics is required so that materials can be selected that have slow reaction rates or have harmless reactions. Thermodynamics provides a means for the engineer to understand and predict the chemical reactions that take place. The reader is referred to any of the numerous books on thermodynamics for a more detailed discussion of the topic. Only a brief summary will be given here.
