Physical Chemistry in Metals

Academic unit or major

Undergraduate major in Materials Science and Engineering

Instructor(s)

Masahiro Susa / Miyuki Hayashi / Kenichi Kawamura / Mitsutoshi Ueda / Yoshinao Kobayashi

Class Format

Lecture

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

3-4 Mon (H115) / 3-4 Thu (H115)

Class

-

Course Code

MAT.M302

Number of credits

200

Course offered

2021

Offered quarter

1Q

Syllabus updated

Jul 10, 2025

Language

Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

This course consists of 'thermodynamics' and 'kinetics' parts, which are lectured in parallel. The 'thermodynamics' part starts with review on the first to third laws including thermodynamic functions such as Gibbs energy, followed by the topics, the chemical potential and the Gibbs phase rule, the latter being applied to phase diagrams and also systems involving chemical reactions. The concept of activity is introcuded along with standard states for components in gas and condensed phases, the latter including Raoultian, Henrian and 1mass% Henarian activities. The Elligham diagram is also touched on as an example of applications of thermodynamics. The kinetics part starts with its importnace in steelmaking and the concept of mass, momentum and energy flows, followed by the topics, diffusion rate and chemical reaction rate. Fick's first and second laws are introduced to quantitatively describe diffusion fluxes in steady and unsteady states. Chemical reaction rates are explained in relation to heterogeneous reaction which is very important to steelmaking, along with the concepts of elementary steps and rate-determining step using the unreacted core model.
　'Physical Chemistry in Metals' is a basis of many other courses provided in Undergraduate Major 'Materials Science and Engineering' and is also important for research and development of high temperature materials and processing. Production of materials must be considered from two perspectives of thermodynamics and kinetics.Thermodynamics can predict a condition where a material is formed spontaneouly, and kinetics can predict the production rate of the material. Students are expected to apply the concepts given in this course to your own research as well.

Course description and aims

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Calculate internal energy, enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs energy changes of reactions.
2) Apply the Gibbs phase rule to discuss intensive parameters requied to establish phase equilibrium and chemical equilibrium.
3) Understand the concept of activity and calculate chemical equilibria using the Gibbs energy change and equilibrium constants.
4) Understand how to make the Ellingham diagram as well as how to use it.
5) Understand the concepts of mass, momentum and energy flows.
6) Describe diffusion fluxes in steady and unsteady states quantitatively.
7) Understand the concepts of elementary steps and rate-determining step and calculate heterogeneous reaction rates.

Keywords

First to third laws of thermodynamics, Internal energy, Enthalpy, Entropy, Gibbs energy, Chemical potential, Chemical equilibrium, Gibbs phase rule, Activity, Standard state, Interaction parameter, Ellingham diagram, Flux, Steady state, Unsteady state, Fick's law, Diffusion coefficient, Reaction rate, Arrhenius equation, Activitaion energy,Elementary step, Rate-determining step, Heterogeneous reaction

Competencies

• Specialist skills
• Intercultural skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Practical and/or problem-solving skills
• You will be required to learn thermodynamics and kinetics as useful tools in engineering as well as scientific philosophy through many exercises.

Class flow

At the beginning of each class, solutions to exercise problems that were assigned during the previous class are reviewed. Towards the end of class, students are given exercise problems related to the lecture given that day to solve. To prepare for class, students should read the course schedule section and check what topics will be covered. Required learning should be completed outside of the classroom for preparation and review purposes.

Course schedule/Objectives

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

Handouts relevent to the lecture are provided.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Atkins: 『Physical Chemistry 8th edn Parts 1&2』 Tokyo Kagaku Dojin，ISBN: 978-4-8079-0695-6, ISBN: 978-4-8079-0696-3 (Japanese)
The Japan Institute of Metals 『Physical Chemistry of Metals』 Maruzen,　ISBN: 4-88903-011-5 (Japanese)　

Evaluation methods and criteria

Students' knowledge of thermodynamics laws, thermodynamic functions, Gibbs phase rule, activity, Elligham diagram, diffusion flux, chemical reaction rate and their ability to apply them to problems will be assessed.
Final exams 70％，exercise pronlems 30％

Related courses

• MAT.A204 ： Thermodynamics of Materials
• MAT.M203 ： Chemical Reaction Dynamics(M)
• MAT.M202 ： Statistical Mechanics(M)
• MAT.M207 ： Phase Diagram and Stability in Metals
• MAT.M304 ： Crystal Growth and Structure Formation

Prerequisites

Students must have successfully completed both Thermodynamics of Materials (MAT.A204) and Chemical Reaction Dynamics (MAT.M203) or have equivalent knowledge.

Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).

Susa: susa.m.aa[at]m.titech.ac.jp
Hayashi: hayashi[at]mtl.titech.ac.jp

Office hours

Susa: Contact by e-mail in advance to schedule an appointment.
Hayashi: Contact by e-mail in advance to schedule an appointment.

Other

The sequence of lectures in odd times and even times may be changed depending upon the academic year, which will be announced in detail at the first-time lecture.