- Statistical thermodynamics
In
thermodynamics , statistical thermodynamics is the study of the microscopic behaviors ofthermodynamic systems usingprobability theory . Statistical thermodynamics, generally, provides a molecular level interpretation of thermodynamic quantities such as work,heat , free energy, andentropy . Statistical thermodynamics was born in 1870 with the work of Austrian physicistLudwig Boltzmann , much of which was collectively published in Boltzmann's 1896 "Lectures on Gas Theory". [ [http://www.worldscibooks.com/phy_etextbook/2012/2012_chap01.pdf On history of fundamentals of statistical thermodynamics] (section 1.2)] Boltzmann's original papers on the statistical interpretation of thermodynamics, theH-theorem , transport theory,thermal equilibrium , theequation of state of gases, and similar subjects, occupy about 2,000 pages in the proceedings of the Vienna Academy and other societies. The term "statistical thermodynamics" was proposed for use by the American thermodynamicistWillard Gibbs in 1902. According to Gibbs, the term "statistical", in the context of mechanics, i.e.statistical mechanics , was first used by the Scottish physicistJames Clerk Maxwell in 1871.Overview
The essential problem in statistical thermodynamics is to determine the distribution of a given amount of energy "E" over "N" identical systems. [cite book | author=Schrodinger, Erwin | title=Statistical Thermodynamics | publisher=Dover Publications, Inc. | year=1946 | isbn=0-486-66101-6 | oclc=20056858] The goal of statistical thermodynamics is to understand and to interpret the measurable macroscopic properties of materials in terms of the properties of their constituent particles and the interactions between them. This is done by connecting thermodynamic functions to quantum-mechanic equations. Two central quantities in statistical thermodynamics are the
Boltzmann factor and the partition function.History
In 1738, Swiss physicist and mathematician
Daniel Bernoulli published "Hydrodynamica" which laid the basis for thekinetic theory of gases . In this work, Bernoulli positioned the argument, still used to this day, that gases consist of great numbers of molecules moving in all directions, that their impact on a surface causes the gas pressure that we feel, and that what we experience asheat is simply the kinetic energy of their motion.In 1859, after reading a paper on the diffusion of molecules by
Rudolf Clausius , Scottish physicistJames Clerk Maxwell formulated theMaxwell distribution of molecular velocities, which gave the proportion of molecules having a certain velocity in a specific range. This was the first-ever statistical law in physics. [cite book|author=Mahon, Basil |title=The Man Who Changed Everything – the Life of James Clerk Maxwell|location=Hoboken, NJ | publisher=Wiley|year=2003|isbn=0-470-86171-1|oclc=52358254 62045217] Five years later, in 1864,Ludwig Boltzmann , a young student in Vienna, came across Maxwell’s paper and was so inspired by it that he spent much of his long and distinguished life developing the subject further.Hence, the foundations of statistical thermodynamics were laid down in the late 1800s by those such as
James Maxwell ,Ludwig Boltzmann ,Max Planck ,Rudolf Clausius , andWillard Gibbs who began to apply statistical and quantum atomic theory to ideal gas bodies. Predominantly, however, it was Maxwell and Boltzmann, working independently, who reached similar conclusions as to the statistical nature of gaseous bodies. Yet, one most consider Boltzmann to be the "father" of statistical thermodynamics with his 1875 derivation of the relationship between entropy "S" and multiplicity "Ω", the number of microscopic arrangements (microstates) producing the same macroscopic state (macrostate) for a particular system. [cite book | author=Perrot, Pierre | title=A to Z of Thermodynamics | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1998 | isbn=0-19-856552-6 | oclc=123283342 38073404]Classical thermodynamics vs. statistical thermodynamics
As an example, from a
classical thermodynamics point of view one might ask what is it about athermodynamic system of gas molecules, such asammonia NH3, that determines the free energy characteristic of that compound? Classical thermodynamics does not provide the answer. If, for example, we were given spectroscopic data, of this body of gas molecules, such asbond length ,bond angle ,bond rotation , and flexibility of the bonds in NH3 we should see that the free energy could not be other than it is. To prove this true, we need to bridge the gap between the microscopic realm of atoms and molecules and the macroscopic realm of classical thermodynamics. From physics,statistical mechanics provides such a bridge by teaching us how to conceive of a thermodynamic "system" as an assembly of "units". More specifically, it demonstrates how thethermodynamic parameters of a system, such as temperature and pressure, are interpretable in terms of the parameters descriptive of such constituent atoms and molecules. [cite book | author=Nash, Leonard K. | title=Elements of Statistical Thermodynamics, 2nd Ed. | publisher=Dover Publications, Inc. | year=1974 | isbn=0-486-44978-5 | oclc=61513215]In a bounded system, the crucial characteristic of these microscopic units is that their energies are
quantized . That is, where the energies accessible to a macroscopic system form a virtual continuum of possibilities, the energies open to any of its submicroscopic components are limited to a discontinuous set of alternatives associated with integral values of somequantum number .Fundamentals
Central topics covered in statistical thermodynamics include:
*Microstates and configurations
*Boltzmann distribution law
*Partition function,Configuration integral or configurational partition function
*Thermodynamic equilibrium - thermal, mechanical, and chemical.
*Internaldegrees of freedom - rotation, vibration, electronic excitation, etc.
*Heat capacity – Einstein solids, polyatomic gases, etc.
*Nernst heat theorem
*Fluctuations
*Gibbs paradox
*DegeneracyLastly, and most importantly, the formal definition of
entropy of athermodynamic system from astatistical perspective is calledstatistical entropy is defined as::where:"kB" is Boltzmann's constant 1.38066×10−23 J K−1 and:"" is the number of microstates corresponding to the observed thermodynamic macrostate.
A common mistake is taking this formula as a hard general definition of entropy.This equation is valid only if each microstate is equally accessible (each microstate has an equal probability of occurring).
Boltzmann Distribution
If the system is large the
Boltzmann distribution could be used (The Boltzman distribution is an approximate result):
This can now be used with :
:
Related
In the late 19th century,
Ladislaus von Bortkiewicz , a Russian-born statistician, intrigued by the heating of cannons as they were fired, attempted to statistically predict the overheating of an artillery battalion. His few trials showed that the metallic composition of cannon barrels in Poland varied too greatly at the time to effectively predict the outcomes of an entire battalion.See also
*
Atmospheric thermodynamics
*Biological thermodynamics
*Black hole thermodynamics
*Chemical thermodynamics
*Classical thermodynamics
*Configuration entropy
*Equilibrium thermodynamics
*Non-equilibrium thermodynamics
*Phenomenological thermodynamics
*Quantum thermodynamics
*Statistical mechanics
*Thermochemistry
*Thermodynamics References
Further reading
* ISBN 978-981-270-707-9
* ISBN 978-3817132867
* translated by Stephen G. Brush (1964) Berkeley: University of California Press; (1995) New York: Dover ISBN 0-486-68455-5
*; (1981) Woodbridge, CT: Ox Bow Press ISBN 0-918024-20-X
* Vol. 5 of the Course of Theoretical Physics. 3e (1976) Translated by J.B. Sykes and M.J. Kearsley (1980) Oxford : Pergamon Press. ISBN 0-7506-3372-7
* 2e (1998) Chichester: Wiley ISBN 0-471-59520-9External links
* [http://history.hyperjeff.net/statmech.html Statistical Thermodynamics] - Historical Timeline
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