Temperature as a Measure of the Distribution of Particles Over Energy States: Would a Negative Absolute Temperature be Very Cold, or Very Hot?©
Arthur Ferguson Department of Chemistry Worcester State College 48806 Chandler Street Wocester, MA 01602-2597 United States mail to: AFerguson@worcester.edu
Abstract
This exercise explores the implications of the Boltzmann Equation for the population of energy states as a function of temperature. It uses the graphing power of Mathcad to provide a concrete, visual, presentation of relative population of the first three vibrational states of carbon monoxide from 0 K to very high temperatures and focuses attention on what happens to the relative populations of these states over that range, especially at the extremes of infinite and zero absolute temperature. It then seeks to increase the user's understanding of the Boltzmann Equation by exploring the implications of hypothetical negative absolute temperatures and asking the question Would negative absolute temperature be very hot or very cold?
Commentary
Editor's Commentary
Keywords
Audiences: Upper-Division Undergraduate Pedagogies: Computer-Based Learning Domains: Physical Chemistry Topics: Mathematics / Symbolic Mathematics, Statistical Mechanics, Thermodynamics
Documents
File Name Description Software Type Software Version Boltzmann2001i.mcd Mathcad 2001i Computational Document Mathcad 2001i Boltzmann8.mcd Mathcad 8 Computational Document Mathcad 8 Boltzmann.pdf Read-Only Document JCE Subscribers only: name and password or institutional IP number access required.
Citations
Ferguson, Arthur J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81 (4), 607
©Copyright 2004 Journal of Chemical Education