Chapter List

1.1 Introduction

The liquid state is one of the three principal states of matter. The majority of chemical synthesis reactions are carried out in the liquid state, and separation processes usually involve liquid/fluid states, i.e. solutions. Thus, not surprisingly, for a century and a half experimental investigations of physical properties of solutions and of phase equilibria involving solutions (vapour liquid equilibrium: VLE; liquid liquid equilibrium: LLE; solid liquid equilibrium: SLE; solid vapour equilibrium: SVE) have held a prominent position in physical chemistry. The scientific insights gained in these studies can hardly be overrated, and have been of immense value for the development of the highly formalized, general discipline of...