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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2004  > November  >
In the Classroom
Introduction of Entropy via the Boltzmann Distribution in Undergraduate Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach
Evguenii I. Kozliak
Department of Chemistry, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202-9024
Cover
November 2004
Vol. 81 No. 11
p. 1595
Abstract
Several problems that hinder optimal communication with students in the conventional introduction to thermodynamics are identified. Even though students from their first course focus on chemistry as a molecular science, most texts in physical chemistry begin with the phenomenological Clausius formulation, thereby emphasizing its macroscopic aspect; the others concentrate on so-called "positional" entropy thus decoupling it from the entropy of heat exchange. The suggested approach uses simple examples based on the Boltzmann distribution to introduce the concept of entropy consistently on a molecular basis by emphasizing energy distribution among the accessible microstates but bypassing the complexities of statistics. Thereby, a connection between the increase of entropy on expansion as well as on heating can be shown. A clear illustration is provided for the basic tenet of the second law, the spontaneous transfer of thermal energy from hot to cold bodies.
More Information
*  Citation
 Kozliak, Evguenii I. J. Chem. Educ. 2004 81 1595.
*  Keywords
 Excited States / Energy Transfer; Physical Chemistry; Statistical Mechanics; Thermodynamics
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 September 27, 2004
October 5, 2004
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