Answer to Question #119691 in Molecular Physics | Thermodynamics for Arnob

Question

Suppose water clusters containing up to 50 molecules. If we add 500 water
molecules at 0c with 500 water molecules forming ice at 0c.

(a) The heat flow would be from ice to water or water to ice.
(b) Which thermodynamic property directed the heat flow for the above situation.
(c) Justify the heat flow direction from Boltzmann entropy equation.

Answer 1

Answer:

a) The heat flow will be from water to ice;

b)Water molecules are more mobile than kinetic energy;

c)In 1877, Ludwig Boltzmann understood the relationship between the entropy of a system and the number of possible "microstates" (microscopic states) that can realize a macroscopic state with given properties. A microstate is defined as the positions and momentum of each atom that makes up a system. Boltzmann postulated that

$S=K_bln\Omega$

where the constant k_B = 1.38 · 10-23 J / K is now known as the Boltzmann constant, and is the number of microscopic states possible in a given macroscopic state. This postulate, known as the Boltzmann principle, can be regarded as the beginning of statistical mechanics, which describes thermodynamic systems using the statistical behavior of the components of which they are composed. The Boltzmann principle relates the microscopic properties of the system ($\Omega$ ) to one of its thermodynamic properties (S).