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MIDTERM EXAM, PHYSICS 5305, Spring, 2007, Dr. Charles W.

Myles Take Home Exam: Distributed, Wednesday, March 21 DUE, IN MY OFFICE OR MAILBOX, 5PM, WED., MARCH 28.

NO EXCEPTIONS! EXAM RULE: You are allowed to use almost any resources (library books, etc.) to solve these
problems. EXCEPTION: You MAY NOT COLLABORATE WITH ANY OTHER PERSON in solving them! If you have questions or difficulties with the problems, you may consult with me, but not with fellow students (whether or not they are in this class!), with other faculty, or with post-docs. You are bound by the TTU Code of Student Conduct not to violate this rule! Anyone caught violating this rule will, at a minimum, receive an F on this exam! INSTRUCTIONS: Read all of these before doing anything else!!! Failure to follow them may lower your
grade!!

1. PLEASE write on ONE SIDE of the paper only!! This wastes paper, but it makes my grading easier! 2. PLEASE do not write on the exam sheets, there will not be room! Use other paper!! 3. PLEASE show all of your work, writing down at least the essential steps in the solution of a problem.
Partial credit will be liberal, provided that the essential work is shown. Organized work, in a logical, easy to follow order will receive more credit than disorganized work. 4. PLEASE put the problems in order and the pages in order within a problem before turning in this exam! 5. PLEASE clearly mark your final answers and write neatly. If I cannot read or find your answer, you can't expect me to give it the credit it deserves and you are apt to lose credit. 6. NOTE: The words EXPLAIN and DISCUSS mean to do this briefly, using complete,

grammatically correct English sentences! 7. NOTE!!! The setup (THE PHYSICS) of a problem will count more heavily in the grading than the
detailed mathematics of working it out.

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE DIRECTIONS!!!! THANK YOU!!! NOTE!!!! YOU MUST ANSWER PROBLEM 1! WORK ANY 5 OUT OF THE OTHER 6 PROBLEMS! So, you must answer 6 problems in total. Problem 1 is worth 10 points. Each of the others is equally weighted and worth 18 points. So, 100 is the maximum points possible. Please sign this statement and turn it in with your exam: I have neither given nor received help on this exam _______________________________
Signature

1. THIS QUESTION IS REQUIRED!!


a. A coin is tossed 400 times. Find the probability of obtaining 215 heads. Use the Gaussian approximation. b. Write the 1st Law of Thermodynamics for an infinitesimal, quasi-static process in a system characterized by absolute temperature T and one external parameter x. EXPLAIN the physical meaning of every symbol you write and DISCUSS the physical meaning of the law itself. c. Write the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics for the system of part a. EXPLAIN the physical meaning of every symbol you write and DISCUSS the physical meaning of the law itself. d. Write the 3rd Law of Thermodynamics for system in part a. EXPLAIN the physical meaning of every symbol you write and DISCUSS the physical meaning of the law itself. e. DISCUSS the physical meaning of entropy. f. State the Fundamental Postulate of Statistical Mechanics. DISCUSS its physical meaning and some of its consequences.

NOTE!!!! WORK ANY 5 OUT OF PROBLEMS 2 through 7! 2. The number of accessible states for a system of N particles confined to volume V and with energy in the range E to E + E is given by (E,V,N) = AE(7N/3)exp[BNV(3/5)E] where A & B are constants. a. Calculate the entropy in terms of E,V and N. b. The absolute temperature of the system is T. Calculate the internal energy E as a function of T,V, and N. c. Find the equation of state P(V,T,N) for this system, where P is the pressure. d. Calculate the heat capacity CV,N at constant volume V and constant particle number N for this system. Express this as a function of N & V only. e. Calculate the volume coefficient of expansion and the isothermal compressibility for this system. (See Reif, Ch. 5) f. Calculate the heat capacity CP,N at constant pressure P and constant particle number N for this system. Express this as a function of N & V only. 3. Consider a classical simple harmonic oscillator in one dimension. The total energy is written as E = (p2/2m) + ()kx2. p is the particle momentum, x is its position, k is the spring constant. a. For fixed energy E, sketch the allowed region in classical phase space (the x-p plane) that is accessible to the oscillator for all energies less than or equal to E. If the energy is in the very small range E to E + E, sketch (on the same figure you just sketched) the allowed region of phase space that it accessible to the oscillator. b. For k = 2 N/m, m = 2 kg, and amplitude xm = 3 m, calculate the number of allowed states for this oscillator for all energies less than or equal to E. Take the area of the cell in phase space to be Plancks constant h. Put in NUMBERS! I want a NUMERICAL VALUE! c. Suppose the position x of the oscillator is changed a small amount to x + x, while the momentum p is unchanged. Find an expression for the corresponding change in energy E, in this case. For x = 0.01 m, NUMERICALLY calculate E for the oscillator of part b. Use this result to NUMERICALLY calculate the number of accessible states in the range E to E + E, for this same oscillator. d. Using the quantum mechanical expression for the energy E of the same simple harmonic oscillator in part b, estimate the quantum number n. Compare this result to that of part b. 4. A substance has the following properties (A,B,V0,T0, and a are constants): i) At constant temperature T0, the work done by it on expansion from volume V0 to volume V is W0 = 5A(T0)3ln(V/V0) ii) The entropy is given by S = B(V0/V)2(T/T0)a a. Calculate the change in Helmholtz free energy F = F(T,V) F(T0,V0) in taking the system from temperature T0 and volume V0 to temperature T and V. b. Find the equation of state. c. Calculate the work done on expansion from volume V0 to volume V at arbitrary temperature T. NOTE!!!! WORK ANY 5 OUT OF PROBLEMS 2 through 7! 5. Consider the chemical reaction A + B C. The molar heat capacities (in units of [J/(mole-K)]) at

constant pressure of substances A,B, and C are the following functions of absolute temperature T by: CA = 5T, CB = 8T, CC = 15T. This reaction is carried out at constant temperature T = 300K. a. Calculate the entropy change per mole, S, of substance C produced. Does the sign of your answer violate the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics? If not, why not? EXPLAIN briefly using complete, grammatically correct English sentences. b. Calculate the heat released per mole, Q, of substance C produced. c. Assuming that the mechanical work, W, done in this reaction is zero, calculate the total change in internal energy per mole E produced in this reaction. 6. Consider a system of total charge q in a static electric field, which is characterized by an electrostatic potential . The system is in thermal equilibrium at absolute temperature T. Consider an infinitesimal, quasi-static process in which the electrostatic potential is changed by d. Recall that, in such a situation, the mechanical work done is - qd. For this system, use the following definitions (E is the internal energy, S is the entropy): Enthalpy: H = E - q, Helmholtz Free Energy: F = E TS, Gibbs Free Energy: G = E TS - q. In solving this problem PLEASE be VERY CAREFUL in your partial derivative notation about which variables are held constant when the derivative is taken. a. Write, in differential form, involving the differential dE, the combined 1st & 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics for this system, assuming that the entropy S and the electrostatic potential U are independent variable. b. Use the properties of differentials and the results of part a to express T and q as partial derivatives of E. c. Use the properties of partial derivatives and the results of part b to relate an appropriate partial derivative of q to a partial derivative of T, hence deriving one of Maxwells relations for this system. d. Repeat parts a,b,c, except begin by writing the combined 1st and 2nd Laws in terms of a differential of F, assuming T and are independent variables and expressing S and q as appropriate partial derivatives of F. e. Repeat parts a,b,c, except begin by writing the combined 1st and 2nd Laws in terms of a differential of H, assuming S and q are independent variables and expressing T and as appropriate partial derivatives of H. f. Repeat parts a,b,c, except begin by writing the combined 1st and 2nd Laws in terms of a differential of G, assuming T and q are independent variables and expressing S and as appropriate partial derivatives of G.

NOTE!!!! WORK ANY 5 OUT OF PROBLEMS 2 through 7! 7. Consider a mole of steam under high pressure, so that the Van der Waals equation is the proper equation of state. Van der Waals constants for steam: a = 4.0 (liter)2atm/(mole)2 b = 0.5 liter/mole. It is initially at pressure Pi = 50 atm and has volume Vi = 0.5 liter. It is then

expanded to twice that volume. a. Calculate the initial temperature of the steam. b. If the expansion is isobaric (at constant pressure), calculate the final temperature. c. Calculate the mechanical work (in Joules) done in the isobaric expansion of part b. d. If the expansion is isothermal (at constant temperature), calculate the final pressure. e. Calculate the mechanical work (in Joules) done in the isothermal expansion of part d. For parts f and g ONLY, assume that the ideal gas law holds, but that = cp/cv = 1.96. f. Calculate the final temperature and pressure if the expansion is adiabatic (at constant entropy). g. Calculate the mechanical work (in Joules) done in the adiabatic expansion of part f.

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