2.4 – Degrees of Freedom for Reactive Systems


2.4.0 – Learning Objectives

By the end of this section you should be able to:

  1. Calculate degrees of freedom using extent of reaction or atomic species for reactive systems

2.4.1 – Introduction

As you learned in Module - 1, degrees of freedom(DOF) can save you precious time and resources. It is very improtant to perform a DOF analysis before calculating the solution to any problem.


2.4.2 – Degrees of Freedom for Extent of Reaction

The DOF of extent of reaction can be calculated by using the following equation:

\[DOF = \text{# of unknown varibles} + \text{# of independant reactions} - \text{# of independant reactive species} - \text{# of independant nonreactive species} - \text{# of other equations relating unknown varibles}\]

This will equation will inform you if the problem is solvable.


2.4.3 – Degrees of Freedom for Atomic Species Balances

The DOF of atomic species balances can be calculated by using the following equation:

\[DOF = \text{# of unknown varibles} - \text{# of independant atomic species balances} - \text{# of molecular balances on independent nonreactive species} - \text{# of other equations relating unknown varibles}\]

This will equation will inform you if the problem is solvable.


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