Thermodynamics of the Electron Revisited and Generalized.

The accurate evaluation of redox potentials in various media and the ability of electron transfer in some biological or chemical reactions are subject to the determination of the accurate gas phase thermodynamic data of the electron. These data are also useful to describe with a high accuracy the movement of the electron in a stellar core. However, these data were not available at all temperatures, and the available data were not sufficiently accurate. I addressed this matter using a robust and reliable self-consistent iterative procedure which determines the entropy of a gas phase free electron and, thereafter, allows the calculation of its heat capacity, enthalpy, and free energy. Extremely accurate analytic expressions of the aforementioned thermodynamic parameters were provided at all temperatures. The thermodynamic parameters of the gas phase electron are now known at all temperatures (integer or noninteger) in the standard atmosphere with a high accuracy. Analytic expressions proposed for the thermodynamic parameters are highly advisable where iteratively computed data are unavailable. Note that at room temperature (T = 298.15 K), the values recommended for the thermodynamic parameters of the gas phase electron are S = 22.6432 J mol(-1) K(-1), CP = 17.1062 J mol(-1) K(-1), ΔH = 3.1351 kJ mol(-1), and ΔG = -3.6160 kJ mol(-1).