Properties and applications of intrinsic equations, that is, equations derived without reference to coordinate axes, are described, with particular attention to their usefulness in the analytical treatment of multicomponent systems. Equations of this type may be derived directly in terms of composition without considering geometric relations, and may be applied to multicomponent systems without the necessity of thinking in terms of hyperspace. Specific applications discussed are conversion of compositions from one system of components to another, the classification of compositions with reference to the individual systems in which they lie, and the estimation of the proportions of phases at an invariant point.A system of n components within an Ar-component system is defined by Nn intrinsic equations. It is suggested that when the necessary number of intrinsic equations is large, parametric equations may be employed more conveniently. The application of equations of the latter type will be considered in another paper (in preparation).
REFERENCES(1)