Statistical Thermodynamics Questions

STATISTICAL THERMODYNAMICS & KINETIC THEORY OF GASES 71
NET/JRF Previous Years’ Questions
Tm
1. A certain system of noninteracting particles has the single-particle partition function f  A where A is
V
some constant. The average energy per particle will be [NET June 2011]
(a) mkT (b) AkT (c) kT / m (d) kT / A
2. The virial expansion for a real gas can be written in either of the following forms: [NET June 2011]
PV
 1  BP P  CP P 2  .............
RT
 1  BV / V  C v / V 2  ............
If BV  BP , the value of  would be

(a) PV/RT (b) RT/PV (c) PV (d) RT
3. For an assembly of molecules (molar mass = M) at temperature T, the standard deviation of Maxweller’s
speed is approximately [NET June 2011]
RT RT M M
(a) 0.7 (b) 1.4 (c) 0.7 (d) 1.4
M M RT RT
4. At room temperature, which molecule has the maximum rotational entropy? [NET June 2011]
(a) H2 (b) O2 (c) D2 (d) N2.
5. If r denotes the characteristic tempreture of rotation then the magnitude of

2
r  H 2   r  D 2   / r  HD   (assume the bond lengths to be the same for all the molecules ) is
(a) 2/3 (b) 3/2 (c) 8/9 (d) 9/8 [NET Dec. 2011]
6. A system consisting of 4 identical and distinguishable particle , each possessing three available states of 1,2
and 3 units, has 10 units of energy. The number of ways, W, in which these conditions are satisfied is
(a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6 (d) 10 [NET Dec. 2011]
7. Two  particles having speeds S1 and S2 have kinetic energies 1 and 2 MeV respectively; the relationship
between S1 and S2 is : [NET Dec. 2011]
(a) S1  2S2 (b) S2  2S1 (c) S2  2S1 (d) S1  2S2
8. The energy levels of the harmonic oscillator (neglecting zero point energy) are  v  nh for n = 0, 1, 2, ....  .
Assuming h  K BT , the partition function is: [NET June 2012]
1
1 1
(a) e (b) (c) 1  (d) 1  1
e e e
9. The correct entropy for 6 identical particles with their occupation number {0, 1, 2, 3} in four states is
(a) k Bn6 (b) k Bn 12 (c) k Bn 60 (d) k Bn 720 [NET June 2012]
10. The rotational partition function of H2 is:
(a)   2J  1 ehcBJ J1 (b)   2J  1 ehcBJ J1 [NET Dec. 2012]

J 0, 1, 2..... J 1,3, 5,......
South Delhi : 28-A/11, Jia Sarai, Near-IIT Metro Station, New Delhi-16, Ph : 011-26851008, 26861009
North Delhi : 33-35, Mall Road, G.T.B. Nagar (Opp. Metro Gate No. 3), Delhi-09, Ph: 011-27653355, 27654455
(c)   2J  1 ehcBJ J1

J  0,2,4......
1  hcBJ  J 1  hcBJ  J 1 

(d) 4    2J  1 e  3   2J  1 e 
 J 0,2,4...... J 1,3,5....... 
11. A system has 100 degenerate energy levels and 100 bosons are kept in it. Find the entropy of the system at
equilibrium. [NET June 2013]
(a) 10 2 k B (b) 102 k B (c) 460.6 k B (d) 4.606 k B
12. Calculate the total number of microstates for 6 identical particles with their occupation numbers {1, 2, 3} in
three states is: [NET June 2013]
(a) 6 (b) 12 (c) 60 (d) 720
13. The number of ways in which four molecules can be distributed in two different energy levels is
(a) 6 (b) 3 (c) 16 (d) 8 [NET Dec. 2013]
14. The molecule with the smallest rotation partition function at any temperature among the following is
[NET Dec. 2013]
(a) CH3  C  C  H (b) H  C  C  H (c) H  C  C  D (d) D  C  C  D
15. The translational, rotational and vibrational partition functions for a molecule are [NET June 2014]
f translation  1010 m 1 , f rotation  10, f vibration  1,  k BT / h   1013 at room temperature, N A  6 1023

Using the approximate data given above, the frequency factor (A) for a reaction of the type:
atom + diatomic molecule  non-linear transtion state  product, according to the conventional transition
state theory is
(a) 2 103 (b) 6 107 (c) 2 1012 (d) 6 1013
16. The number of configurations in the most probable state, according to Boltzmann formula, is
(a) eS/k B (b) eS/k B (c) e E/k BT (d) e G/k BT [NET June 2014]
17. Using Boltzmann distribution, the probability of an oscillator occupying the first three levels (n = 0, 1 and 2) is
found to be p0 = 0.633, p1 = 0.233 and p2 = 0.086. [NET June 2014]
The probability of finding an oscillator in energy levels in n  3 is
(a) 0.032 (b) 0.048 (c) 0.952 (d) 1.000
18. If temprature is doubled and the mass of the gaseous molecule is halved, the rms speed of the molecular will
change by a factor of [NETJune 2014]
1 1
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) (d)
2 4
hv
19. The low and high temperature limits of vibrational partition function are     [NET Dec. 2014]
 k 
T   /T T T 
(a) e /T and e (b) e /2T and e /2T (c) e /2 T and e /T (d) e /2T and e /2T
   T
20. The number of microstates that are possible, when two particles are distributed in four states such that the
resulting wave functions are antisymmetric with respect to exchange of the particles, is [NET Dec. 2014]
(a) 16 (b) 12 (c) 8 (d) 6
21. When T   , value of the single-particle partition function will be (given : degeneracy of level j = gj)
[NET Dec. 2014]
1
(a) 1 (b) g0 (c)  j g j (d)
j gj
22. The probability of finding the harmonic oscillator in the energy level n = 1 is (neglect zero point energy and
assume hv = kBT) [NET Dec. 2014]
2 –2 –2
(a) e (b) e (c) 1 – e (d) e (e – 1)
23. B
F(V) C
Speed
Identify the speed distribution functions of Ne, Ar, and Kr with the curves in the figure above
(a) Ne-A, Ar-B, Kr-C (b) Ne-B, Ar-C, Kr-A [NET Dec. 2014]
(c) Ne-C, Ar-B, Kr-A (d) Ne-C, Ar-A, Kr-B
24. The single-particle partition function (f) for a certain system has the form f  AVe BT . The average energy per
particle will then be (k is the Boltzmann constant) [NET June 2015]
(a) BkT (b) BkT 2 (c) kT / B (d) kT / B 2
25. The indistinguishability correction in the Boltzmann formulation is incorporated i the following way: (N = total
number of particles, f = single-particl partition function) [NET June 2015]
(a) replace by f/N! (b) replace fN by fN/N!
(c) replace f by f/ln(N!) (d) replace by fN by fN/ln(N!)
26. Though a constant shift of energy levels of a system changes the partition function, the properties that do
not change are [NET Dec. 2015]
(a) average energy, entropy and heat capacity
(b) average energy and entropy
(c) average energy and heat capacity
(d) entropy and heat capacity.
27. The standard deviation of speed  c  for Maxwell’s distribution satisfies the relation [NET Dec. 2015]
(a) c  T (b) c  T (c) c  1/ T (d) c  1/ T

28. The vibrational frequency of a homo-nuclear diatomic molecule is v. The temperature at which the popu-
lation of the first excited state will be half that of the ground state is given by [NET Dec. 2015]
(a) hv  ln 2 / k B (b) hv /  ln 2  k B  (c) ln 2 /  hv  k B  (d) hv  log 2 / k B
29. The single-particle translational partition function (f) for an ideal gas in a fixed volume V depends on the thermal
n
de-Broglie wavelength  th as f ~   th  where [NET June 2016]
(a) n = 3 (b) n = 1 (c) n = –1 (d) n = – 3
30. 15 particles are distributed among 4 levels as shown in state I. Heat is given to the system and no work is done.
The final state could be [NET June 2016]
I II III IV V
(a) II (b) III (c) IV (d) V
31. An ideal gas is composed of particles of mass M in thermal equilibrium at a temperature T in one container.
Another container contains ideal gas particles of mass 2M at a temperature 2T. The correct statement about
the two gases is [NET June 2016]
(a) average kinetic energy and average speed will be same in the two cases
(b) both the averages will be doubled in the second case
(c) only the average kinetic energy will be doubled in the second case
(d) only the average speed will be doubled in the second case
1
32. The weight of the configuration with two up and three down spins in a system with five spin particles is
2
(a) 120 (b) 60 (c) 20 (d) 10 [NET Dec. 2016]
 Bz
33. If the energies of a bare proton aligned along and against an external static magnetic field  Bz  are 
2
 Bz
and  , respectively, then the ratio of probabilities of finding the proton along and against the magnetic
2
field is [NET Dec. 2016]
(a) e z B
 B /4 k T (b) e z B
 B /2 k T 
(c) e z B
 B /2 k T 
(d) e z B
 B / k T
34. Partition function of a one-dimensional oscillator having equispaced energy levels with energy spacing equal to
kBT and zero ground state energy is [NET Dec. 2016]
1 e 1
(a) e (b) e  1 (c) e  1 (d) e  1
     
35. Consider a system of three particles which can occupy energy levels with energy 0,  and 2, such that the total
1
energy E  4 . Cases A, B and C correspond to spin fermions, spin 0 bosons, and classically distinguish-
2
able particles, respectively. The correct ordering of entropy is [NET June 2017]
(a) S A  S B  SC (b) S B  S A  SC (c) SC  S B  S A (d) SC  S A  S B
36. The first excited state  2 P1/2  of fluorine lies at an energy of 400 cm–1 above the ground state  2 P3/2  . The
fraction of Fluorine atoms in the first excited state at k BT  420 cm 1 is close to [NET June 2017]
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
1 e 2e 1  4e 1  2e
37. The term symbol for the ground state of a metal ion is 3P2. The residual entropy of a crystal of a salt of this metal
ion at 0 K is [NET Dec. 2017]
(a) kB ln 1 (b) kB ln 3 (c) kB ln 5 (d) kB ln 7
38. Four distinguishable molecules are distributed in energy levels E1 and E2 with degeneracy of 2 and 3, respec-
tively. Number of microstates, with 3 molecules in energy level E1 and one in energy level E2, is
(a) 4 (b) 12 (c) 96 (d) 192[NET Dec. 2017]
39. Translational partition function of a D2 molecule confined in a 100 cm3 vessel at 25ºC is
(h = 6.626×10–34 J.s, k = 1.381×10–23 JK–1) [NET June 2018]
24 28
(a) 3.8  10 22 (b) 5.8  10 (c) 7.8  1026 (d) 9.8  10
40. PA and PB denote the populations of two energy states E A and E B , and E A  E B The correct statment when
the temperature T1  T2 is [NET Dec. 2011]
(a) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2
(b) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2
(c) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2
(d) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2

41. According to transition state theory, the temperature-dependence of pre-exponential factor (A) for a reaction
between a linear and a non-linear molecule, that forms products through a non-linear transition state, is given by
(a) T (b) T2 (c) T–2 (d) T–1.5 [NET June 2015]
42. According to the transition state theory, one of the vibrations in the activated complex is a loose vibration.
The partition function for this loose vibration is equal to (kB is the Boltzmann’s constant and h is the
Planck’s constant) [NET Dec. 2015]
k BT hv k BT
(a) (b) k T (c) k BT (d)
h B hv
43. For a gaseous reaction, 2NO(g)  Cl 2 (g)  Non-linear T.S.  2NOCl, the pre-exponential factor in the
rate constant is proportional to [NET Dec 2014]
(a) T1/2 (b) T–1/2 (c) T–5/2 (d) T–7/2
44. A chemical reaction involving [NET June 2013]

 nonlinear activated complex
nonlinear molecule + nonlinear molecule 

The number of vibrational degrees of freedom in the activated complex, containing N atoms, is
(a) 3N–5 (b) 3N–6 (c) 3N–7 (d) 3N–8
45. The free energy  A  A  0   of a system with 10 non-interacting spins (S = 1) is [NET Dec. 2018]
(a) kBT ln  3 (b) 10k BT ln  3 (c) k BT ln  0.3  (d) 10kBT ln  0.3
46. The translational partition function for Ar confined to a volume of 1 L at 300K, having thermal wavelength of
1.60×10–11 m, is closest to [NET Dec. 2018]
(a) 24.4×1029 (b) 2.44×1029 (c) 0.244×1029 (d) 244×1029
47. Root mean square speed of the molecules of a perfect gas is proportional to [NET Dec. 2018]
(a) 1/T1/2 (b) T (c) T1/2 (d) 1/T
48. For a linear molecule the mean energies for translation, rotation T   R  and vibration T  V  follow
ratio: [NET June 2019]
3 3 1 1
(a) 1: :1 (b) :1:1 (c) 1: :1 (d) :1:1
2 2 2 2
49. The populations of proton spins in the highest energy level of a sample in magnetic fields of 1.5T and 7.0 T are
N'
N ' and N , respectively. The value of ln is (  , h, k , T are gyromagnetic ratio of the proton, Planck’ss
N
constant, Boltzmann constant and temperature of the sample, respectively; assume that the partition functions
for both systems can be approximated as 1) [NET June 2019]
3 14
(a) 5.5  / kT (b)   / kT (c)   / kT (d) 8.5  / kT
14 3
50.
0 0

The difference between standard molar entropies of two mono-atomic gases (A) and (B) S m , A  Sm , B at a 
given temperature is (given that the molar mass of (A) is twice the molar mass of (B)) [NET June 2019]
3 5 7
(a) R ln 2 (b) R ln 2 (c) R ln 2 (d) R ln 2
2 2 2
51. A non-ideal gas follows the equation, [NET June 2019]
RT  B
P 1  
Vm  Vm 
where B is a function of temperature only. The deviation in internal energy from that of an ideal gas, U  U ideal ,
is given by
 RT  B   RT 2  B   RT 2  RT
(a)   (b) (c) B (d) V B
Vm  T V Vm  T V Vm m
52. The rotational partition function is expected to be the smallest for the molecule, among the following
(a) H2 (b) Li2 (c) N2 (d) F2 [NET June 2019]
53. Consider a two-level system in which the excited state, separated from the ground state by energy  , is doubly
degenerate. The fraction of the molecules in the excited state, as T   , is [NET Dec. 2019]
1 1 2
(a) (b) (c) (d) 1
3 2 3
54. The molar residual entropy (in JK–1) of solid OCS would be closest to [NET Dec. 2019]
(a) 0 (b) 2.9 (c) 5.8 (d) 8.7
55. A liquid of density 1.1g cm–3 climbs to a height of 5.0 cm when a capillary with internal radius of 0.2 mm is
dipped into it. The surface tension (in Nm–1) of the liquid is closest to [NET Dec. 2019]
(a) 0.05 (b) 0.108 (c) 0.018 (d) 0.005
ANSWER KEY
1. (a) 2. (d) 3. (a) 4. (b) 5. (c) 6. (d) 7. (c)
8. (d) 9. (c) 10. (d) 11. (b) 12. (c) 13. (c) 14. (b)
15. (b) 16. (a) 17. (b) 18. (b) 19. (b) 20. (d) 21. (c)
22. (d) 23. (c) 24. (b) 25. (b) 26. (d) 27. (b) 28. (b)
29. (d) 30. (a) 31. (c) 32. (d) 33. (d) 34. (c) 35. (c)
36. (d) 37. (c) 38. (c) 39. (c) 40. (c) 41. (d) 42. (d)
43. (d) 44. (c) 45. (b) 46. (b) 47. (c) 48. (b) 49. (a)
50. (a) 51. (b) 52. (a) 53. (c) 54. (c) 55. (a)
GATE Previous Years’ Questions

1. The number of molecules of an ideal gas in a 8.2 1 container at 380 torr and 27ºC will be [GATE 2000]
23
(a) 1.0  10 23 (b) 1.0  1022 (c) 6.02  1023 (d) 12.04  10
2. Compared to C 2 H 6 , the value of vander waal’s constants ‘a’ and ‘b’ for He will be [GATE 2001]
(a) both will be smaller (b) ‘a’ will be larger but ‘b’ will be smaller
(c) ‘b’ will be larger but ‘a’ will be smaller (d) both will be larger
3. The translational partition function of a hydrogen molecule confined in a 100 mL flask at 298 K (Mol. wt. of
hydrogen = 2.016) is: [GATE 2003]
(a) 2.8×1020 (b) 2.8×1025 (c) 2.8×1026 (d) 2.8×1027.
1
4. The v rms of a gas at 300 K is 30 R 2 . The molar mass of the gas, in kg mol–1, is [GATE 2004]
(a) 1.0 (b) 1.0  101 (c) 1.0  102 (d) 1.0  103
5. The vibrational partition function for a molecule with fundamental frequencyv is given by
1
       
(a) exp    (b) 1  exp    [GATE 2005]
 k BT    k BT 
1 1
              
(c) exp    1  exp    (d) exp    1  exp   
 k BT    k BT   2k B T    k BT  
6. Given that the mean speed of H2 is 1.78 km s–1, the mean speed of D2 will be [GATE 2005]
(a) 1.26 km s–1 (b) 2.52 km s–1 (c) 5.04 km s–1 (d) 3.17 km s–1.
7. As per the kinetic theory of ideal gases, which of the following statements is NOT correct?
(a) gas particles have mass but no volume [GATE 2006]
(b) particles are in a Brownian motion between collisions.
(c) during the collision, the system does not lose energy
(d) particles exert same force per unit area on all sides of the container.
8. N non-interacting molecules are distributed among three non-degenerate energy levels
 0  0, 1  1.38  1021 J and  2  2.76  1021 J , at 100K. If the average total energy of the system at this
temperature is 1.38  1018 J , the number of molecules in the system is: [GATE 2007]
(a) 1000 (b) 1503 (c) 2354 (d) 2987
9. Assuming H2 and HD molecules having equal lengths, the ratio of the rotational partition functions of these
molecules, at temperature above 100K is [GATE 2007]
(a) 3/8 (b) 3/4 (c) 1/2 (d) 2/3
10. A certain molecule can be treated as having only a doubly degenerate state lying at 360 cm–1 above the non-
degenerate ground state. The approximate temperature (K) at which 15% of the molecules will be in the upper
state is [GATE 2008]
(a) 500 (b) 150 (c) 200 (d) 300
11. At T = 300K, the thermal energy (kBT) in cm–1 is approximately. [GATE 2008]
(a) 20000 (b) 8000 (c) 5000 (d) 200
12. Approximately one hydrogen atom per cubic meter is present in interstellar space. Assuming that the H-atom
has a diameter of 10–10m, the mean free path (m) approximately is [GATE 2008]
(a) 1010 (b) 1019 (c) 1024 (d) 1014.
13. For 1 mole of a monoatomic ideal gas, the relation between pressure (p), volume (V) and average
molecular kinetic energy    is [GATE 2011]
NA  NA  2N A  2N A
(a) p  (b) p  (c) p  (d) p 
V 3V 3V 3V 
14. The molecular partition function of a system is given by [GATE 2012]
3 3
3
 k T  2  8 mk B T  2
q T   B    , where the symbols have their usual meanings.
 hc   h2 
The heat capacity at constant volume for this system is
(a) 3R (b) 6R (c) 9R/2 (d) 3R/2
15. The molecular partition function for a system in which the energy levels are equispaced by , is
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) [GATE 2014]
1  e 1  e 1  e 1  e
16. The ratio of molecules distributed between two states is 9.22×106 at 300K. The difference in energy (in kJ
mol–1) of the two states is _______ [GATE 2014]
17. At a given temperature and pressure, the ratio of the average speed of hydrogen gas to that of helium gas is
approximately ____________ [GATE 2014]
18. For an ideal gas with molar mass M, the molar translational entropy at a given temperature is proportional to
(a) M3/2 (b) M1/2 (c) eM (d) ln(M) [GATE 2015]
19 The rotational partition function of a diatomic molecule with energy levels corresponding to J = 0, 1, is
(where ,  is a constant) [GATE 2015]
(a) 1  2e 2  (b) 1  3e 2  (c) 1  e 3 (d) 1  3e 3

20. Consider N particles at temperature T, pressure P, volume V and chemical potential µ having energy E. The
parameters that are kept constant for a canonical ensemble are [GATE 2017]
(a) N, V, T (b) N, V, E (c) N, P, T (d) µ, V, T
21. For ortho-hydrogen, the nuclear wavefunction and the rotational quantum number, respectively, are
(a) antisymmetric and even (b) symmetric and odd GATE 2017]
(c) symmetric and even (d) antisymmetric and odd
22. The fundamental vibrational wavenumbers for H2 and I2 are 4403.2 cm–1 and 214.5 cm–1, respectively. The
relative population of the first excited vibrational states of these two molecules compared to their respective
ground states at 300 K are respectively: [GATE 2009]
(a) 6.75 10 1 and 3.57 101 (b) 6.75 1010 and 3.57 10 1
(c) 3.57 106 and 6.75 101 (d) 3.57 101 and 6.75 101
23. The temperature dependence of partition are as follows: [GATE 2013]
3
q translation  T 2
q vibration  T 0
3
q rotation  T  linear molecule  q rotation  T 2
 non  linear molecule 
According to the Conventional Transition State Theory (CTST), the temperature dependence of the
Arrhenius pre-exponential factor for a reaction of the type given below is

 non-liner linear transition state 
linear molecule + linear molecule 
  products.
(a) T–1 (b) T0 (c) T1 (d) T2
24. Consider a system of three identical and distinguishable non-interacting particles and three available non-
degenerate single particle energy levels having energies 0,  and 2 . The system is in contact with a heat bath
of temperature T(K). A total energy of 2 is shared by these three particles. The number of ways the particles
can be distributed is ______________________ [GATE 2019]
25. Consider a two-state system at thermal equilibrium having energies 0 and 2kBT for which the degnerates are 1
and 2, respectively. The value of the partition function at the same absolute temperature T is
_____________(Round off to two decimal places). [GATE 2019]
(kB is the Boltzmann constant)
ANSWER KEY
1. (a) 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (d) 5. (d) 6. (a) 7. (a)
8. (a) 9. (a) 10. (c) 11. (d) 12. (b) 13. (c) 14. (a)
15. (d) 16. (38 to 42) 17. (1.4 to 1.5)18. (d) 19. (b) 20. (a) 21. (b)
22. (b) 23. (a) 24. (6) 25. (1.25 to 1.28)
TIFR & IISc. Previous Years’ Questions
1. A molecule normally absorbs in the green wavelength (ca. 500 nm). At some temperature, it is measured
that for every 10 molecules in the excited state, there are about 27 molecules in the ground state. What is
the approximate temperature of the molecules? [TIFR 2011]
(a) 270K (b) 1000K (c) 500K (d) 30000K
2. In an NMR experiment, the relative population difference  N/N  for 13C nuclei in the magnetic fields of (a)
0.5 T, (b) 2.5 T and (c) 15.0T at a temperature of 298K are in the ratio: [TIFR 2011]
–1 –5 –30
(a) 1 : 5 : 30 (b) e : e : e
(c) e–0.5/298 : e–2.5/298 : e–15/298 (d) 30 : 5 : 1
3. A quantum mechanical state Q is a superposition of two normalized enregy eigenstates A and B in an amplitude
ratio 2:1. If the two states are degenerate with a common eigenvalue E, what is the energy of the state Q?
(a) 0 (b) 3E (c) 5E (d) E [TIFR 2012]
4. For the above, if the states were non-degenerate and with energy eigenvalues E and –E respectively, then what
would be the expectation value of the energy? [TIFR 2012]
(a) 3E (b) 5E (c) E (d) None of the above.
5. Real gases behave differently from ideal gases because: [TIFR 2013]
(i) The molecules of real gases are in constant motion.
(ii) Molecules of real gases collide with the walls of the container.
(iii) Molecules of real gases have volume
(iv) Molecules of real gases attract each other.
(a) (i) and (ii) (b) (iii) only (c) (iii) and (iv) (d) All of the above.
6. A molecule has a ground state and two excited electronic energy levels, all of which are nondegenerate with the
energies: E 0  0, E1  1 10 20 J , and E 2  3  10 20 J . If P0, P1 and P3 are fractions of molecules occupied in
ground, first and second excited states, respectively, at 298K, then, P0 : P1 : P2 = ? [TIFR 2014]
(a) 0.919 : 0.081 : 0.001 (b) 0.900 : 0.098 : 0.002
(c) 0.666 : 0.333 : 0.111 (d) 0.880 : 0.088 : 0.022
7. Two containers X and Y have equal fixed number of particles. Container X is maintained at constant temperature
while container Y is maintained at constant temperature and pressure. What statistical ensemble will you use to
best describe the properties of particles in the two containers ? [TIFR 2015]
(a) Canonical ensemble for both X and Y
(b) Microcanonical ensemble for X and canonical for Y
(c) Canonical ensemble for X and grand canonical ensemble for Y
(d) Microcanonical ensemble for both X and Y.
8. A system has doubly degenerate ground state with energy E0 and very large number of spaced excited states.
If T  0 , then partition function will be [IISc.]
(a) 0 (b) 2 (c) 1 (d) 
9. For a canonical ensemble where each system has N, V, T fixed, which of the follwoing statements regarding
energy hold(s) true: [TIFR 2016]
(a) Energy of the system does not fluctuate
(b) At thermodynamics limit (large N) the fluctuation in energy is extremely narrow
(c) At thermodynamics limit (large N), the fluctuation in energy is extremely broad
(d) All of the above.
10. A particle can occupy either of two energy levels: The ground state with energy zero and an excited state with
energy > 0. At a finite temperature T, the probability of occupying the excited level will be if kB is the
Boltzmann constant: [TIFR 2018]
(a) 0 (b) 1+ exp(-/kBT)
(c) exp(–/kBT) / (1 + exp(–/kBT)) (d) 1 / (1 + exp(–/kBT))
11. In a two-level system, the relative level population (lower:upper) was found to be 0.25:0.5. The spacing
between the levels is 100 kJoules, where k is magnitude of the Boltzmann constant. The effective temperature
of the system is
(a) –50 K (b) –100 In (2) K (c) -100/ln (2) K (d) none of the above
12. In a three-level system, the second and third levels were found to be half and a sixth as populated respectively,
as the first (lowest) level. The level separations are E12  20K Joules and E 23  10K Joules, where K is
the magnitude of the Boltzamann constant. The system
(a) is at about 9.1K (b) is at about 16.7 K
(c) is at about 28.8 K (d) is not in thermal equilibrium
13. The relative population of the state of a two-level system at infinite temperature is that (both levels are non-
degenerate)
(a) the upper level is more populated (b) the lower level is more populated
(c) the two levels are equally populated (d) the upper level is not populated at all
14. The population in the first rotational state of a diatomic molecule relative to the lowest state is 3e–2. The
relative population in the second rotational state is given by
(a) 4 e–3 (b) 5 e–4 (c) 5 e–6 (d) 4 e–5
15. An average human DNA molecule has 5 × 108 base pairs, with four different kinds of bases. If the DNA sequence
was completely random, what would be the residual entropy associated with this typical DNA molecule?
[TIFR 2010]
(a) 9.57 × 10–15 JK–1 (b) 4.15 × 10–15 JK–1 (c) 6.90 × 10–15 JK–1 (d) 1.38 × 10–14 JK–1
16. A single-stranded RNA has 1200 bases. The total base content of this RNA was found to have the follow-
ing ratio A:U:G:C = 0.2: 0.3:0.3:0.2. The probability of a randomly chosen 5 nucleotide long sequence as
GAUGA is: [TIFR 2014]
(a) 0.00098 (b) 0.00243 (c) 0.00032 (d) 0.00108
17. A bag contains 20 coins each labeled with one-letter code for amino acids. A coin is drawn at random the letter
on the coin is noted down and the coin it kept back in the bag before the next draw. If the process is continued
for five times, then what is the probability that the letters on the drawn coins make the word ‘DRAWN’, in that
sequence? [TIFR 2019]
–10
(a) 1.0 × 10
(b) .05
(c) Not possible as the word ‘DRAWN’ has letters which are not codes for amino acids
(d) 3.125 × 10–7
ANSWER KEY
1. (d) 2. (a) 3. (d) 4. (d) 5. (c) 6. (a) 7. (a)
8. (b) 9. (b) 10. (c) 11. (b) 12. (d) 13. (c) 14. (c)
15. (a) 16. (d) 17. (d)

Statistical Thermodynamics Questions

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Statistical Thermodynamics Questions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

STATISTICAL THERMODYNAMICS & KINETIC THEORY OF GASES 71

NET/JRF Previous Years’ Questions

If BV  BP , the value of  would be

5. If r denotes the characteristic tempreture of rotation then the magnitude of

(a) S1  2S2 (b) S2  2S1 (c) S2  2S1 (d) S1  2S2

10. The rotational partition function of H2 is:

(a)   2J  1 ehcBJ J1 (b)   2J  1 ehcBJ J1 [NET Dec. 2012]

(c)   2J  1 ehcBJ J1

1  hcBJ  J 1  hcBJ  J 1 

f translation  1010 m 1 , f rotation  10, f vibration  1,  k BT / h   1013 at room temperature, N A  6 1023

(a) c  T (b) c  T (c) c  1/ T (d) c  1/ T

(a) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2

(b) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2

(c) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2

(d) PA  T1   PB  T1  , PA  T2   PB  T2  and  PA / PB T1   PA / PB T2

(a) kBT ln  3 (b) 10k BT ln  3 (c) k BT ln  0.3  (d) 10kBT ln  0.3

GATE Previous Years’ Questions

(a) 1  2e 2  (b) 1  3e 2  (c) 1  e 3 (d) 1  3e 3

You might also like