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stat mech midterm 2

stat mech mt2

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24 views2 pages

stat mech midterm 2

stat mech mt2

Uploaded by

Murat Özinan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PHYS 301- Midterm #2

Please be rigorous, and explain your reasoning when necessary.

• Problem 1: Rotation of diatomic molecules. The rotational motion is quan-


tized, and the energy levels of a diatomic molecule are of the form

ϵ(j) = j(j + 1)ϵ0

where j is any positive integer including zero: j = 0, 1, 2, . . . ∞. The multiplic-


ity/degeneracy of each rotational level is g(j) = 2j + 1.

(a) Find the partition function ZR (τ ) for the rotational states of one molecule.
Remember that Z is a sum over all states, not over all levels: this makes a
difference.
(b) Evaluate ZR (τ ) approximately for τ ≫ ϵ0 , by converting the sum to an
integral.
(c) Do the same for τ ≪ ϵ0 , by truncating the sum after the second term.
(d) Give expressions for the energy U and the heat capacity CV , as functions
of τ , in both limits. Observe that the rotational contribution to the heat
capacity of a diatomic molecule approaches 1 (or, in conventional units,
kB ) when τ ≫ ϵ0 .

• Problem 2: The ideal photon gas. Consider a three-dimensional photon gas


in thermal equilibrium. The energy of the state with s quanta in the mode k is
εs = sℏωk

(a) Show that the free energy F of a photon gas is related to its volume V and
2
temperature T by F = − a3 V T 4 , where a = 15ℏπ3 c3 is a constant.
(b) Show that the pressure p = a3 T 4 depends only on the temperature.
(c) Verify the Euler equation for a photon gas.
(d) Calculate how the temperature of a photon gas varies with volume during
a quasi-static, reversible, adiabatic compression of the gas. Recall that p =
1U
3V .

1
• Problem 3: A classical gas in a potential field. The system of interest is a gas
of N identical point particles with mass m confined to one dimension, which
we choose as the x-axis. The particles are non-interacting, classical, and non-
relativistic, and they are subject to a confining potential given by
(
bx, x>a
V (x) =
+∞, x ≤ a

where a and b > 0 are constants with appropriate units. The gas is in equilibrium
at temperature T .

(a) Find the partition function Z and the Helmholtz free energy F of the gas.
(b) Find the particle density n(x) and the pressure p(x) as a function of x for
x > a.
(c) Calculate the heat capacity of this system and compare it with the one for
free particles.
(d) (BONUS) Find the force exerted by the gas on the wall at x = a, and
explain your reasoning.

• Problem 4: Gibbs sum for a two-level system. Consider a system that may be
unoccupied with energy zero or occupied by one particle in either of two states,
one of energy zero and one of energy ϵ. Note that this assumption excludes the
possibility of one particle in each state at the same time.

(a) Find the Gibbs sum Z for this system.


(b) Find the thermal average occupancy ⟨N (ϵ)⟩ of the state at energy ϵ, and
find the thermal average occupancy ⟨N ⟩ of this system.
(c) Find an expression for the thermal average energy of the system.
(d) In this part, allow the possibility that the orbital at 0 and at ϵ may be occu-
pied each by one particle at the same time. Find the Gibbs sum Z. Then
factorize it as Z = Z0 Zϵ , and comment on its meaning.

Appendix
√
– (a) λdB = h/ 2πmτ

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