Midterm Examination

Midterm Examination
Distributed: Monday, April 25, 2011 Due: Monday, May 2, 2011 at 1pm in lecture
Examination Policy
There are two sections to the exam. Take the closed book section rst. After nishing the closed book section proceed directly to the open book section. You have 2 hours to complete the closed book section once you open the exam and 2 hours to complete the open book section once you nish the closed book section. Any extra time you have from the closed book section may NOT be carried over to the open book section. For the closed book section you are not allowed to use any notes, books, or other resources. For the open book section you may use class notes, problem sets and solutions, and the course textbook, but no other resources or collaboration is allowed. Write your exam either in a blue book or on clean sheets of paper. Show all of your work.
CLOSED BOOK You are not allowed to use any notes, books, or other resources on this section of the exam. You have 2 hours to complete this part. Once you nish this part proceed directly to the open book part of the exam. Any extra time from this part of the exam can NOT be carried over to the open book part.
Since you have opened the exam proceed to take the exam. Take this section rst.
CLOSED BOOK You are not allowed to use any notes, books, or other resources on this section of the exam. You have 2 hours to complete this part. Once you nish this part proceed directly to the open book part of the exam. Any extra time from this part of the exam can NOT be carried over to the open book part.
Problem 1: Short Answer Dene each pair of concepts, noting the dierences. Provide a concrete example for each concept. a) Extensive property vs. Intensive property b) Macrostate vs. Microstate c) Reversible process vs. Irreversible process Problem 2: Classical Partition Function a) Consider a system of N indistinguishable particles that interact via the general, positiondependent potential V (r1 , r2 , . . . , rN ). Write down the classical canonical partition function, and describe the dierent terms, including the prefactor. b) What constitutes a microstate for this system? c) Describe the physical meaning of the De Broglie thermal wavelength, = Problem 3: 1-D Ising Model Consider a system consisting of N , non-interacting spins arranged on a 1-dimensional lattice as pictured below.
! """! $! %! &'#! &! &(#! """! )!
h2 2mkB T
1/2
#!
Each spin can point either up or down (si = 1 or 1). In the presence of an external eld, H > 0, the total energy of the total system is:
N
Ej =
i=1
Hsi
a) Calculate the total canonical partition function Q at temperature T . b) Calculate the average energy, E . c) Calculate the uctuations in energy, (E E )2 . d) Calculate the heat capacity Cv . Now, suppose that the spins interact with their nearest neighbors. That is, spin si will have an interaction with si1 and si+1 . Also, assume that there are periodic boundary conditions so that spin sN interacts with spin s1 . The energy for the total system is then
N
Ej =
i=1
Hsi J
ij
si sj
where the sum in the second term only includes pairs of neighboring spins. d) Calculate the ratio of the probability of congurations in which only one spin is pointing down to the probability of congurations in which no spins are pointing down: P (one spin down)/P (no spins down).
OPEN BOOK You may use class notes, problem sets and solutions, and the course textbook. You are not allowed to consult with other students or use any other resources besides the ones specied. You have 2 hours to complete this section of the exam.
Since you have opened the exam proceed to take the exam. Take this section second.
OPEN BOOK
Problem 4: N-monomer Chain A rubber band can be modeled as an N -monomer chain consisting of a sequence of seg ments {1 , 2 , ...N }. Each segment has length a and can point in one of 4 possible n n n directions:
i = +a, n x i = a, n x i = +a, or n y i = a n y
(1)
where x and y are Cartesian unit vectors. The chain is subject to an external force = x along the positive x direction, such that the total energy of the system is given by:
N
E=
i=1
where the single segment energy,
i,
is: i = n
a) Calculate the total system partition function Q at temperature T . b) Calculate the average energy E . c) Consider the probability that a specic segment is aligned along x, -, or not aligned x with either . (We are looking for three separate quantities: P+x , Px , Py .) x i) Calculate P+x , Px , Py at temperature T . ii) What are the low-temperature limits? iii) What are the high-temperature limits? iv) What can you say about the structure of the chain at T = 0.
The average length of the projection of the chain onto the x-axis is given by:
N
l =
i=1
x i n
d) Calculate l . 1 . In particular, note the high and low kB T temperature limits. Comment on the structure of a rubber band as temperature increases. e) Sketch a plot of l as a function of =
Problem 5: Reversible Compressibility of a Van-der-Waals gas The Van-der-Waals equation of state for a gas is: P a = 2 kB T 1 b T where = N . V
Initially N particles of the gas are at a volume V1 and temperature T . a) Calculate the work of reversibly and isothermally compressing the gas from a volume V1 to a volume V2 . Write your answer in terms of V1 , V2 , T , and N . b) Setting the parameters a and b to the appropriate values, recover the ideal gas result for the work. c) Setting b=0, plot the work as a function of the parameter a, labeling the axes. Provide a physical interpretation of how the work changes with positive and negative values of a.

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where the single segment energy,

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