The Ellingham diagram is a plot of Gibbs free energy change (\(\Delta G\)) versus temperature for various oxidation reactions.
In metallurgy, this diagram is used to determine the feasibility of reducing metal oxides to their respective metals at different temperatures.
The position and slope of the lines in the Ellingham diagram help in comparing the stability of different metal oxides and identifying the temperature above which a metal oxide can be reduced using a particular reducing agent such as carbon or carbon monoxide.
Thus, the primary use of the Ellingham diagram is to determine the temperature at which a metal oxide can be reduced effectively.