In chemistry, the standard state of a material is a reference point used to calculate its properties under different conditions. A superscript circle is used to designate a thermodynamic quantity in the standard state, such as change in enthalpy, change in entropy, or change in Gibbs free energy. In principle, the choice of standard state is arbitrary, although the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry recommends a conventional set of standard states for general use. IUPAC recommends using a standard pressure p⦵ = 105Pa. Strictly speaking, temperature is not part of the definition of a standard state. For example, as discussed below, the standard state of a gas is conventionally chosen to be unit pressure ideal gas, regardless of the temperature. However, most tables of thermodynamic quantities are compiled at specific temperatures, most commonly or, somewhat less commonly,. The standard state should not be confused with standard temperature and pressure for gases, nor with the standard solutions used in analytical chemistry. For a given material or substance, the standard state is the reference state for the material's thermodynamic state properties such as enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy, and for many other material standards. The standard enthalpy change of formation for an element in its standard state is zero, and this convention allows a wide range of other thermodynamic quantities to be calculated and tabulated. The standard state of a substance does not have to exist in nature: for example, it is possible to calculate values for steam at 298.15 K and 105 Pa, although steam does not exist under these conditions. The advantage of this practice is that tables of thermodynamic properties prepared in this way are self-consistent.
Conventional standard states
Many standard states are non-physical states, often referred to as "hypothetical states". Nevertheless, their thermodynamic properties are well-defined, usually by an extrapolation from some limiting condition, such as zero pressure or zero concentration, to a specified condition using an ideal extrapolating function, such as ideal solution or ideal gas behavior, or by empirical measurements.
Gases
The standard state for a gas is the hypothetical state it would have as a pure substance obeying the ideal gas equation at standard pressure. No real gas has perfectly ideal behavior, but this definition of the standard state allows corrections for non-ideality to be made consistently for all the different gases.
Liquids and solids
The standard state for liquids and solids is simply the state of the pure substance subjected to a total pressure of 105 Pa. For most elements, the reference point of ΔHf⦵ = 0 is defined for the most stable allotrope of the element, such as graphite in the case of carbon, and the β-phase in the case of tin. An exception is white phosphorus, the most common allotrope of phosphorus, which is defined as the standard state despite the fact that it is only metastable.
Solutes
For a substance in solution, the standard state is the hypothetical state it would have at the standard state molality or amount concentration but exhibiting infinite-dilution behavior. The reason for this unusual definition is that the behavior of a solute at the limit of infinite dilution is described by equations which are very similar to the equations for ideal gases. Hence taking infinite-dilution behavior to be the standard state allows corrections for non-ideality to be made consistently for all the different solutes. Standard state molality is 1 mol kg−1, while standard state amount concentration is 1 mol dm−3.
Adsorbates
For molecules adsorbed on surfaces there have been various conventions proposed based on hypothetical standard states. For adsorption that occurs on specific sites the most common standard state is a relative coverage of θ°=0.5, as this choice results in a cancellation of the configurational entropy term and is also consistent with neglecting to include the standard state. The advantage of using θ°=0.5 is that the configurational term cancels and the entropy extracted from thermodynamic analyses is thus reflective of intra-molecular changes between the bulk phase and the adsorbed state. There may be benefit to tabulating values based on both a relative coverage based standard state and in additional column an absolute coverage based standard state. For 2D gas states, the complication of discrete states does not arise and an absolute density base standard state has been proposed, similar for the 3D gas phase.
Typesetting
At the time of development in the nineteenth century, the superscript Plimsoll symbol was adopted to indicate the non-zero nature of the standard state. IUPAC recommends in the 3rd edition of Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry a symbol which seems to be a degree sign as a substitute for the plimsoll mark. In the very same publication the plimsoll mark appears to be constructed by combining a horizontal stroke with a degree sign. A range of similar symbols are used in the literature: a stroked lowercase letter O, a superscript zero or a circle with a horizontal bar either where the bar extends beyond the boundaries of the circle or is enclosed by the circle, dividing the circle in half. When compared to the plimsoll symbol used on vessels, the horizontal bar should extend beyond the boundaries of the circle; care should be taken not to confuse the symbol with the Greek lettertheta.
