Abstract
Latimer1 and Urey2 first investigated the oxidation states of iron in the dust phase of the solar nebula, demonstrating for the reaction 
that the equilibrium constant K = H2/H2O is determined by the relative abundance of hydrogen and oxygen in the solar nebula. The equilibrium constant is further related to the standard free energy change, ΔG°, by the well known thermodynamic relation 
Thus, with ΔG° obtained from thermodynamic data and K determined by the solar H2/H20 ratio, the equilibrium temperature of ∼400 K is calculated.
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References
Latimer, W. M., Science N.Y., 112, 101 (1950).
Urey, H. C., The Planets, (Yale Univ Press, New Haven, 1952).
Larimer, J. W., and Anders, E., Geochim. cosmochim. Acta, 31, 1239 (1967).
Anders, E., Acc. chem. Res., 1, 289 (1968).
Anders, E., A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys, 9, 1 (1971).
Cameron, A. G. W., Origin and Distribution of the Elements, (edit. by Ahrens, L. H.) (Pergamon, 1968).
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HERNDON, J., ROWE, M. Meteoritic magnetite as a cosmothermometer. Nature 247, 531–532 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/247531a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/247531a0
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