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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2004  > October  >
Information, Textbooks, Media, Resources
JCE SymMath: Symbolic Mathematics in Chemistry
Heat, Work, and Entropy: A Molecular Level Illustration
Jeffrey A. Draves
Department of Chemistry, Monmouth College, Monmouth, IL 61462
Cover
October 2004
Vol. 81 No. 10
p. 1535
Full Text
This worksheet is intended to help students understand the difference between heat and work at the molecular level and to appreciate the proper use of the term (dis)order when applied to entropy. The worksheet makes use of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and classical thermodynamics to illustrate these differences. The worksheet is simple to execute and has been tested in both Mathcad versions 6 and 8. Questions and exercises are placed throughout the worksheet that help guide students and draw connections between concepts. The author has found that the illustration is best appreciated after classical thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics have been introduced. However, the worksheet can be used at several other places in the physical chemistry curriculum but students have great difficulty in understanding the implications of the particle-in-a-box if background material is not provided.


Figure 1. The population of states (pInitial) as a function of quantum number (n) for a one-dimensional box at 273 K.
Supplement
Fully interactive computer algebra files are available in the JCE SymMath collection of the JCE Digital Library Only@JCE Online.
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More Information
*  Citation
 Draves, Jeffrey A. J. Chem. Educ. 2004 81 1535.
*  Keywords
 Computer Assisted Instruction; Physical Chemistry; Quantum Chemistry; Statistical Mechanics; Thermodynamics
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 August 31, 2004
September 9, 2004
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