TOM MBOYA UNIVERSITY

KNOWLEDGE FOR SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION ENTERPRISE

2022/2023 ACADEMIC YEAR UNIVERSITY EXAMINATION

FOURTH YEAR SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS

FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
(SCIENCE/SPECIAL NEEDS) WITH IT

SPH 402: STATISTICAL MECHANICS

DATE: 17/04/2023 TIME: 3 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS:
 ANSWER QUESTION ONE [COMPULSORY] AND ANY OTHER TWO
QUESTIONS.
 USE THE FOLLOWING CONSTANTS WHERE NECESSARY.
o Electronic charge e = 1.6 x 10-19 C

o Planck’s constant

o Boltzmann’s constant

Page 1 of 9
QUESTION ONE (30 MARKS)
a) What do you understand by the term statistical mechanics (1 marks)
b) Differentiate between microstates and microstates giving examples (4 marks)
c) With the aid of a well labelled diagram briefly describe phase space for a single particle in a
one dimensional space (4 marks)
d) Write the Hamiltonian for both ideal gas particles in a box and real gas particles in a box.
Describe the difference between the Hamiltonians (4 marks)
e) Differentiate between degenerate and non-degenerate energy states (2 marks)
f) Determine the number of accessible states within a small intervals of energy of 5J, given
that the density of states is 2.1 x 1021 units (3 marks)
g) Estimate the number of single particle states N(ε), with energies in the range from 0 to

,for helium atoms in a box of volume 1L at a temperature of 300 K. Take mass of

Helium . (4 marks)

h) Two containers of equal volume are connected by a valve that is initially closed. One con-
tainer contains 100 molecules, whereas the other is empty. Describe what happens when the
valve is opened, and give the situation that you expect when equilibrium has been reached.
What is the probability of finding a particular molecule in one of the two containers after
equilibrium has been reached? (4 mark)
i) State the fundamental postulate of statistical physics (1mark)
j) Determine the Helmholtz potential for a system having total energy E = 500J at a
temperature of 300K and entropy of 50 J/K (3 marks)

QUESTION TWO (20 MARKS)

Single particle states for a particle enclosed in a volume V is expressed as;

. Where represents states and represent the

position. Derive the expression for the number of states in the energy range 0 to . Hence
show that the number of accessible states for N non interacting particles within the same volume

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over energy range E to E+ is given as

( 20 marks)

QUESTION THREE (20 MARKS)

a) Consider a system with N particles at a constant temperature of 500K. If 2000 joules of heat
is added to the system isothermally. Calculate the change in entropy of the system (3 marks)
b) Differentiate between a closed and isolated systems ( 2 marks)
c) An isolated system consists of two subsystems 1 and 2 which are thermal and diffusive
contact. Considering that at equilibrium the total number of accessible states in the system is
1030 cm-3 while the entropy for subsystem 1 is 5.7 x 10 -22 J/K. Determine the total entropy of
the system. (10 marks)
d) By giving simple mathematical expressions for enthalpy, Helmholtz potential and Gibb’s
potential. Express Gibb’s potential as a function of Helmholtz’s potential and enthalpy. (5
marks)

QUESTION FOUR (20 MARKS)

(a) What is a statistical ensemble (1 mark)

(b) With the aid of clear diagrams describe the three types of ensemble stating the constant
parameters in each case (9 marks)
(c) Considering two systems (1 and 2) in thermal, mechanical, and diffusive contact. Show that
the general equilibrium conditions for two systems are. P 1=P2, T1=T2 and µ1=µ2 .Where,
P, T and µ represent pressure, temperature and chemical potential respectively for the
systems 1 and 2 (10 marks)

QUESTION FIVE (20 MARKS)

(a) Giving an examples in each case, differentiate between fermions and bosons (4 marks)
(b) State the assumptions made in the Maxwell Boltzmann’s distribution (4 marks)
(c) By considering a system of non-interacting particles with half integer spins. Show that the
Fermi-Dirac distribution of the particles within degerate energy levels is given as.

. Where , represent degeneracy and the energy states. (12 marks)

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 *END*

MARKING SCHEME

QUESTION ONE (30 MARKS)

a) What do you understand by the term statistical mechanics (1 marks)
statistical mechanics is a branch of Physics that studies, using probability theory, the
average behaviour of mechanical systems where the state of the system is uncertain.

b) Differentiate between microstates and macrostates giving examples (4 marks)

Microstates deals with the atomic or molecular level behaviour and interraction of
substances for instance Kinetic energy of the molecule, momentum, velocity etc.
Macrostates on the other hand, are observable characteristics of matter and energy on large
scale for instance volume,pressure e.t.c

c) With the aid of a well labelled diagram briefly describe phase space for a single particle
in a one dimensional space (4 marks)

Page 4 of 9
d) Write the Hamiltonian for both ideal gas particles in a box and real gas particles in a
box. Describe the difference between the Hamiltonians (4 marks)

e) Differentiate between degenerate and non-degenerate energy states (2 marks)

A system with only one stationary state belonging to each energy-level is often
called non-degenerate and one with two or more stationary states belonging to an
energy-level is called degenerate.

Page 5 of 9
f) Determine the number of accessible states within a small intervals of energy of 5J,
given that the density of states is 2.1 x 1021 units (3
marks)

g) Estimate the number of single particle states N(ε), with energies in the range from 0 to

,for helium atoms in a box of volume 1L at a temperature of 300 K. Take

mass of Helium .

(4 marks)

h) Two containers of equal volume are connected by a valve that is initially closed. One
container contains 100 molecules, whereas the other is empty. Describe what happens
when the valve is opened, and give the situation that you expect when equilibrium has
been reached. What is the probability of finding a particular molecule in one of the two
containers after equilibrium has been reached?
(4 mark)

Page 6 of 9
i) State the fundamental postulate of statistical physics (1mark)
In equilibrium of an isolated system, all the configurations with equal energy are
equally probable.
j) Determine the Helmholtz potential for a system having total energy E = 500J at a
temperature of 300K and entropy of 50 J/K (3 marks)
The Helmholtz free energy (A) or Helmholtz potential is defined as:

Page 7 of 9
 So, the Helmholtz potential for the system is −14500J. The negative sign is common
in thermodynamics and signifies that the Helmholtz potential is a measure of the
"useful" work that can be extracted from the system.

QUESTION TWO (20 MARKS)

Single particle states for a particle enclosed in a volume V is expressed as;

. Where represents states and represent the

position. Derive the expression for the number of states in the energy range 0 to . Hence
show that the number of accessible states for N non interacting particles within the same volume

over energy range E to E+ is given as

( 20 marks)

QUESTION THREE (20 MARKS)

e) Consider a system with N particles at a constant temperature of 500K. If 2000 joules of heat
is added to the system isothermally. Calculate the change in entropy of the system (3 marks)
f) Differentiate between a closed and isolated systems ( 2 marks)
g) An isolated system consists of two subsystems 1 and 2 which are thermal and diffusive
contact. Considering that at equilibrium the total number of accessible states in the system is
1030 cm-3 while the entropy for subsystem 1 is 5.7 x 10 -22 J/K. Determine the total entropy of
the system. (10 marks)
h) By giving simple mathematical expressions for enthalpy, Helmholtz potential and Gibb’s
potential. Express Gibb’s potential as a function of Helmholtz’s potential and enthalpy.
(5 marks)

QUESTION FOUR (20 MARKS)

(d) What is a statistical ensemble (1 mark)

(e) With the aid of clear diagrams describe the three types of ensemble stating the constant
parameters in each case (9 marks)
(f) Considering two systems (1 and 2) in thermal, mechanical, and diffusive contact. Show that
the general equilibrium conditions for two systems are. P 1=P2, T1=T2 and µ1=µ2 .Where,
P, T and µ represent pressure, temperature and chemical potential respectively for the

Page 8 of 9
 systems 1 and 2 (10 marks)

QUESTION FIVE (20 MARKS)

(d) Giving an examples in each case, differentiate between fermions and bosons (4 marks)
(e) State the assumptions made in the Maxwell Boltzmann’s distribution (4 marks)
(f) By considering a system of non-interacting particles with half integer spins. Show that the
Fermi-Dirac distribution of the particles within degerate energy levels is given as.

. Where , represent degeneracy and the energy states. (12 marks)

*END*

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