1.

Think of an inflated helium balloon rising up from the earth's surface

through the earth's atmosphere. Consider two possibilities regarding the
material the balloon is made of: (a) it is a perfect thermal insulator (b) it is
not, and will permit heat exchange between the helium and the atmosphere.
Discuss how the state variables will change with time in the two cases.
Challenge yourself and see how quantitative you can get.
2. Suppose a dilute gas consists of atoms that carry a spin of 1/2 and a
magnetic moment B in the presence of an external uniform magnetic field
H. Discuss how one needs to modify the description of the macrostates and
the microstates of the system. What is the expression for the energy?
3. Suppose instead that the dilute gas consists of asymmetric molecules that
carry an electric dipole moment d in the presence of an external uniform
electric field E. Discuss how one needs to modify the description of the
macrostates and the microstates of the system. What is the expression for
the energy?
4. Neon atoms crystallize into a face centered cubic lattice. Consider
modelling the low energy vibrations of the lattice in terms of springs of
spring constant K connecting nearest neighbor atoms. What variables will
you use to describe the micro-states of the system? What is the expression
for the energy? What do you think will be the macrostate variables of such a
system?