30c) As the number of elements eventually approaches that at the chemical equilibrium, one can rewrite Eq. 18b using the parameter 𝛼 (Eq. 31a). 𝛼 describes how far the system is from equilibrium and in which direction the ratio of reactants and products develops. A value smaller than one means the ratio of reactants and products will shift towards products with a positive reaction rate 𝑟 and vice versa. Combining Eq. 30c and 31a leads to Eq. 31c. As the second term must always be positive, I have hereby derived the Clausius inequality (Eq. 31c).