Chapter 2: Q. 2.17 (page 64)
Use the methods of this section to derive a formula, similar to equation, for the multiplicity of an Einstein solid in the "low-temperature" limit, .
Short Answer
The formula of the Similar Equation
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Chapter 2: Q. 2.17 (page 64)
Use the methods of this section to derive a formula, similar to equation, for the multiplicity of an Einstein solid in the "low-temperature" limit, .
The formula of the Similar Equation
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Suppose you flip fair coins.
(a) How many possible outcomes (microstates) are there?
(b) How many ways are there of getting exactlyheads andtails?
(c) What is the probability of getting exactly heads and tails?
(d) What is the probability of getting exactly heads and tails?
(e) What is the probability of getting exactly heads and 10 tails?
(f) What is the probability of getting heads and no tails?
(g) Plot a graph of the probability of getting n heads, as a function of n.
Describe a few of your favorite, and least favorite, irreversible processes. In each case, explain how you can tell that the entropy of the universe increases.
Find an expression for the entropy of the two-dimensional ideal gas considered in Problem . Express your result in terms of ,and.
Using the same method as in the text, calculate the entropy of mixing for a system of two monatomic ideal gases, and , whose relative proportion is arbitrary. Let be the total number of molecules and let be the fraction of these that are of species . You should find
Check that this expression reduces to the one given in the text when .
This problem gives an alternative approach to estimating the width of the peak of the multiplicity function for a system of two large Einstein solids.
(a) Consider two identical Einstein solids, each with oscillators, in thermal contact with each other. Suppose that the total number of energy units in the combined system is exactly . How many different macrostates (that is, possible values for the total energy in the first solid) are there for this combined system?
(b) Use the result of Problemto find an approximate expression for the total number of microstates for the combined system. (Hint: Treat the combined system as a single Einstein solid. Do not throw away factors of "large" numbers, since you will eventually be dividing two "very large" numbers that are nearly equal. Answer: .)
(c) The most likely macrostate for this system is (of course) the one in which the energy is shared equally between the two solids. Use the result of Problem to find an approximate expression for the multiplicity of this macrostate. (Answer: .)
(d) You can get a rough idea of the "sharpness" of the multiplicity function by comparing your answers to parts (b) and (c). Part (c) tells you the height of the peak, while part (b) tells you the total area under the entire graph. As a very crude approximation, pretend that the peak's shape is rectangular. In this case, how wide would it be? Out of all the macrostates, what fraction have reasonably large probabilities? Evaluate this fraction numerically for the case .
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