Question

What is Gibbs free energy in Electrochemistry?

Answer 1

Hint: First we know electrochemistry is the study of chemical processes that cause electrons to move. The Gibbs free energy is the available energy of a substance that can be used in a chemical reaction. Substances tend to transform into other substances that have less Gibbs free energy. The change of Gibbs free energy predicts whether a chemical reaction will occur spontaneously.

Complete answer:
The Gibbs free energy is the energy associated with a chemical reaction and is equal to the difference between the enthalpy ($$\mathrm{\Delta }H$$) of a system and the product of its entropy ($$\mathrm{\Delta }S$$) and absolute temperature( $$T$$).
At constant temperature and pressure, the change in Gibbs free energy is defined as $$\mathrm{\Delta }G=\mathrm{\Delta }H-T\mathrm{\Delta }S$$ .
Reactions that have a negative $$\mathrm{\Delta }G$$ release free energy and are called exergonic reactions. A negative $$\mathrm{\Delta }G$$ means that the reactants (initial state), have more free energy than the products (final state).
Gibbs free energy is a derived quantity that combines enthalpy and entropy into a single value. If the free energy is negative, we are looking at changes in enthalpy and entropy that favour the process and it occurs spontaneously. A spontaneous reaction is one that releases free energy, and so the sign of $$\mathrm{\Delta }G$$ must be negative.

Note:
Note that the movement of electrons in chemical processes is called electricity, which can be generated by movements of electrons from one element to another in a reaction known as redox (an oxidation-reduction) reaction. Exergonic means energy is exiting the system.