ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses both the linear reversible mechanical properties of solids and the onset of plasticity. It explains the tensor compliances as a function of crystal symmetry and gives particular attention to the many scalar moduli definable in the isotropic limit. At the level of sophistication, nonlinear effects are discussed only in a scalar formalism. Theoretical calculations of vapor pressures are easy to envisage in principle, but exceedingly difficult to carry out in practice with accuracy. To proceed, it is first necessary to redefine the thermodynamic potentials to include the possibility of diffusion from one phase to another. The chapter concerns systems that are in diffusive as well as thermal contact and can consequently exchange matter as well as energy. The general statistical mechanical and thermodynamic descriptions of systems with two or more components are of widespread interest in physical chemistry.
