Midterm Solutions

Physics 119A
December 3, 2018

Problem 1. Two identical ideal gases at the same temperature, T , and numbers of molecules,
N , but with different pressures, P1 , and P2 , are in two containers. The containers are con-
nected. Determine the change in entropy.
Solution. We split the total change of entropy ∆S into two parts, change of entropy of gas
in the container 1 ∆S1 and change of entropy of gas in the container 2 ∆S2 .

∆S = ∆S1 + ∆S2 (1)

For each part,
dQ Cv dT + pdV
ds = = (2)
T T
Since two gases are at the same temperature T , so dT=0. Thus we get
pdV N kdV
ds = = (3)
T V
Z Vf
N kdV Vf
∆S1,2 = = N kln (4)
Vi V Vi
N kT V1 +V2 N kT N kT N kT (P1 +P2 )
For gas in the container 1, Vi = V1 = P1
, Vf = 2
= 2P1
+ 2P2
= 2(P1 P2 )
N kT V1 +V2 N kT N kT N kT (P1 +P2 )
For gas in the container 2, Vi = V2 = P2
, Vf = 2
= 2P1
+ 2P2
= 2(P1 P2 )

Vf (P1 + P2 )
∆S1 = N kln = N kln (5)
Vi 2P2
Vf (P1 + P2 )
∆S2 = N kln = N kln (6)
Vi 2P1
(P1 + P2 )2
∆S = ∆S1 + ∆S2 = N kln (7)
4P1 P2

Problem 2. Consider an infinite one-dimensional lattice gas that stretches from the origin
along the positive x axis. The cells are labelled, starting at the origin by integers j = 0, 1, 2....
The lattice gas is occupied by n atomes. There is a constraint that the average position of
the atoms is on site s, where s  n. If pj is the probability that the j th site is occupied,
determine the dependence of pj on n and s.

1
Solution. We begin with the definition of entropy,
∞
X
S=− pj ln pj (8)
j

We now define our constraints, that the average position is s and that the probability dis-
tribution sums to n. Keep in mind that pj is the probability that a given site is occupied,
so we want the total probability of all the sites to equal the number of occupations which is
the number of atoms n. ∞
X
hxi = s = p j xj (9)
j
∞
X
pj = n (10)
j

We now use the Lagrange multiplier method,

∞
X ∞
X ∞
X
Λ=− pj ln pj − β p j xj − λ pj (11)
j j j

We take the derivative with respect to each pj and demand that each derivative is zero, this
results in
0 = −1 − ln pj − βxj − λ (12)
Solving for pj ,
pj = e−βxj −λ−1 (13)
Going forward, we want to move from a discrete picture to a continuous picture, so instead
of sums we will have integrals and instead of pj will we have p(x). Note that the units of
p(x) will be one over position, so it is more proper to think of this as being a probability
density as opposed to a pure probability. Our expression is now

p(x) = e−βx−λ−1 (14)

Now we can use our constraints in integral form to solve for our lagrangian multipliers.
Z ∞
p(x)dx = n (15)
0
Z ∞
e−βx−λ−1 = e−λ−1 /β = n (16)
0
We use this to eliminate λ from our probability, yielding

p(x) = nβe−βx (17)

Our other constraint is, Z ∞

xp(x)dx = s (18)
0

2
 Z ∞
xnβe−βx dx = s (19)
0
We evaluate the integral using integration by parts,
Z ∞
n
ne−βx dx = s =⇒ =s (20)
0 β
So the probability is
n2 −nx/s
p(x) = e (21)
s

Problem 3. An ideal gas with N molecules that has a heat capacity at constant volume,
Cv , is the working fluid for the pictured circular cycle in the P − V plane. The radius of the
circle is a. For a cyclic process that starts and ends at A: (i)What is the work done on the
ideal gas? Give your answer in terms of P0 , V0 , a. (ii) What is the temperature at B?

Solution i. The work done by a thermodynamic process is the area enclosed by the process
on a P − V plane. The axes of this graph are given in units of P0 and V0 , so we notice that
the area of a unit square is P0 V0 . The area enclosed by our process is the area of a circle in
units of P0 V0 ,
W = πa2 P0 V0 (22)

Solution ii. We use the ideal gas law

PV
P V = N kT =⇒ T = (23)
Nk
At point B, P = P0 and V = V0 (1 + 2a). Putting this all together,

P0 V0 (1 + 2a)
= TB (24)
Nk