Synopsis:
- How the properties of atoms determine the properties of matter
- Solution: probabilities
- A statistical description of a system can be made in terms of the distribution f(r,v,t)
- number of molecules= f(space range, velocity range, time range)
- Statistical Mechanics: statistical description of ensembles of discrete molecules (spheres) obeying classical mechanics and subject to perfectly elastic collisions)
- Relationship between Mechanics (which is reversible in time) and Thermodynamics (which is irreversible)
- Many different microscopic states of a system result in the same macroscopic state
- Boltzmann's statistical definition of entropy: the entropy of a macrostate is the logarithm of the number of its microstates
- S = K * Log(W)
- Entropy is a measure of disorder in a system
- Boltzmann's eternal doom: the universe must evolve in the direction of higher and higher entropy
- The universe is proceeding towards the state of maximum entropy
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