Statistical mechanics: a concise introduction for chemists

✍ Scribed by B. Widom

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 182
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This is an introduction to statistical mechanics, intended to be used either in an undergraduate physical chemistry course or by beginning graduate students with little undergraduate background in the subject. It assumes familiarity with thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, the kinetic theory of gases, quantum mechanics and spectroscopy, at the level at which these subjects are normally treated in undergraduate physical chemistry. Highly illustrated with numerous exercises and worked solutions, it provides a concise, up-to-date treatise of statistical mechanics and is ideally suited to use in one semester courses.

✦ Table of Contents

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 9
1.1 Nature and aims of statistical mechanics......Page 13
1.2 The Boltzmann distribution law......Page 14
1.3 The partition function and statistical thermodynamics......Page 18
2.1 Boltzmann statistics......Page 28
2.2 Translational partition function......Page 33
2.3 Vibrational partition function......Page 39
2.4 Rotational partition function; ortho- and para-hydrogen......Page 43
2.5 The “law” of the equipartition of energies......Page 53
2.6 Partition function with excited electronic states......Page 55
3.1 Thermodynamic preliminaries; the equilibrium constant......Page 59
3.2 Equilibrium constants from partition functions......Page 61
4.1 Ideal harmonic crystal......Page 67
4.2 Rayleigh–Jeans law......Page 69
4.3 Debye theory of the heat capacity of solids......Page 74
4.4 Black-body radiation......Page 78
5.1 Nernst heat theorem in thermodynamics......Page 81
5.2 Third law in statistical mechanics......Page 83
5.3 Comparison with experiment......Page 87
6.1 Virial coefficients......Page 93
6.2 Intermolecular forces......Page 95
6.3 Second virial coefficient from statistical mechanics......Page 99
6.4 Long-range forces......Page 110
7.1 Structure of liquids......Page 113
7.2 Equation of state of a liquid......Page 118
7.3 Computer simulation: molecular dynamics......Page 126
7.4 Computer simulation: Monte Carlo......Page 139
8.1 Bose–Einstein and Fermi–Dirac statistics versus Boltzmann statistics......Page 145
8.2 The grand-canonical partition function......Page 150
8.3 Grand partition function of the quantum ideal gases......Page 155
8.4 The ideal gas in Fermi–Dirac statistics......Page 167
8.5 The ideal gas in Bose–Einstein statistics......Page 174
Index......Page 181