Credit Weight: 0.5 Prerequisite(s): Permission of the Department Description: Statistical methods and probability theory are reviewed, including the binomial, Gaussian, and Poisson distributions. These are applied to systems of particles, and the basic principles of statistical thermodynamics are developed. The concepts of generalized forces, work, heat reservoirs, temperature, entropy, heat capacity, internal energy, the classical ideal gas, partition functions, Gibbs paradox, effusion, the Boltzmann distribution, and the law of mass action are developed. Other topics covered include the Maxwell relations, the van der Waal gas, free and throttled gas expansion, heat engines, and the Clausius-Clapeyron equation (phase transformations). It is shown that statistical mechanics draws from most other branches of physics and mathematics. Offering: 3-0; 0-0
