In the most influential monograph on colloid and interfacial science by Adamson three fundamental equations of “physical chemistry of surfaces” are identified: the Laplace equation, the Kelvin equation and the Gibbs adsorption equation, with a mechanical definition of surface tension by Young as a starting point. Three of them (Young, Laplace and Kelvin) are called here the “mechanical paradigm”. In contrary it is shown here that there is only one fundamental equation of the thermodynamics of colloid and interface science and all the above (and other) equations of this field follow as its derivatives. This equation is due to chemical thermodynamics of Gibbs, called here the “chemical paradigm”, leading to the definition of surface tension and to 5 rows of equations (see Graphical abstract). The first row is the general equation for interfacial forces, leading to the Young equation, to the Bakker equation and to the Laplace equation, etc. Although the principally wrong extension of the Laplace equation formally leads to the Kelvin equation, using the chemical paradigm it becomes clear that the Kelvin equation is generally incorrect, although it provides right results in special cases. The second row of equations provides equilibrium shapes and positions of phases, including sessile drops of Young, crystals of Wulff, liquids in capillaries, etc. The third row of equations leads to the size-dependent equations of molar Gibbs energies of nano-phases and chemical potentials of their components; from here the corrected versions of the Kelvin equation and its derivatives (the Gibbs-Thomson equation and the Freundlich-Ostwald equation) are derived, including equations for more complex problems. The fourth row of equations is the nucleation theory of Gibbs, also contradicting the Kelvin equation. The fifth row of equations is the adsorption equation of Gibbs, and also the definition of the partial surface tension, leading to the Butler equation and to its derivatives, including the Langmuir equation and the Szyszkowski equation. Positioning the single fundamental equation of Gibbs into the thermodynamic origin of colloid and interface science leads to a coherent set of correct equations of this field. The same provides the chemical (not mechanical) foundation of the chemical (not mechanical) discipline of colloid and interface science.

在Adamson撰写的关于胶体和界面科学最有影响力的专着中，确定了三个“表面物理化学”基本方程：Laplace方程，Kelvin方程和Gibbs吸附方程，其中以Young的表面张力的机械定义为起点。观点。他们中的三个（Young，Laplace和Kelvin）在这里被称为“机械范式”。相反，这里表明只有一个热力学基本方程胶体和界面科学的概论以及该领域的所有上述（和其他）方程式均作为其导数。该方程式是由于Gibbs的化学热力学（此处称为“化学范式”）而引起的，从而定义了表面张力并生成了5行方程式（请参见图形摘要）。第一行是界面力的通用方程式，导致了Young方程，Bakker方程和Laplace方程等。尽管Laplace方程的主要错误扩展形式正式地导致了Kelvin方程，但使用的是化学范式显然，尽管开尔文方程在特殊情况下提供正确的结果，但它通常是不正确的。等式的第二行提供了相的平衡形状和位置，包括杨氏的无固定滴，沃尔夫夫的晶体，化学势它们的组成部分；从这里可以得出开尔文方程及其导数的修正形式（吉布斯-汤姆森方程和弗劳德利希-奥斯特瓦尔德方程），包括更复杂问题的方程。方程的第四行是吉布斯的形核理论，也与开尔文方程相反。第五行方程是吉布斯的吸附方程，也是部分表面张力的定义，导致巴特勒方程及其派生式，包括Langmuir方程和Szyszkowski方程。将吉布斯的单个基本方程式置于胶体和界面科学的热力学起源中会导致该领域的一系列正确方程式的连贯性。