Physics 133
Spring Quarter 2004
6 May 2004
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The quiz is due before class today, 6 May 2004.
What good is the Boltzmann factor in physics? Explain how it is used in various areas of thermal physics.
Gordon’s solution will appear here
The Boltzmann factor takes into account the probability of thermal energy being able to excite a state. It tells us how many states, proportionally, can be excited given its energy level and the thermal energy available (kBT).
The Boltzmann factor is supremely important because it indicates how the energy affects the population of states in a system. The factor e-E/kBT tells us that the more energetic a microstate is, the less likely it is that we will observe it. This is not to say it would never be observed; rather it indicates that it gets more and more probable that we will NOT observe it if its energy is high.
The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function, Manchester --essentially another name for the Boltzmann factor, should be appropriate for all situations for which the quantum nature of matter is not important.
The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution gives the probability that various states will be occupied. The ratio of populations of particles occupying the different energy states E1 and E2 is expected to be related exponentially, according to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution as
n2(T)/n1(T)) = e-(E2-E1)/kBT.
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