and flexibility in experimenting by changing input
data or independent variables. It is also available
universally on nearly all personal computers.
Although preparing the spreadsheet models may
take some time, for most students it is easier than
writing computer programs. The spreadsheet
allows the naming of cells which enables the
users to readily understand the model.
Among the variety of scientific and engineering
problems that have been solved using spreadsheets,
several chemical engineering applications have
been reported [2±9]. Most of the papers are
concerned with using the ability of the spreadsheet
for entering formulas and solving simultaneous
equations, using built-in solving capabilities.
In his paper on the use of spreadsheets in undergraduate
thermodynamic calculations, Savage [3]
has described the chemical equilibrium calculations
of single chemical reactions occurring in
either an ideal or non-ideal fluid phase by the
stoichiometric method. The method is based on
the reaction equilibrium constants. This paper will
describe how the optimization feature of the
spreadsheet Solver can be used to perform chemical
equilibrium calculations for known substances
in either an ideal or non-ideal gas phase by the
method of direct Gibbs energy minimization.