Heat, Work, and Entropy: A Molecular Level Illustration - Journal of

Oct 1, 2004 - This worksheet is intended to help students understand the difference between heat and work at the molecular level and to appreciate the...
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JCE SymMath: Symbolic Mathematics in Chemistry

Theresa Julia Zielinski Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ 07764-1898

Heat, Work, and Entropy: A Molecular Level Illustration by Jeffrey A. Draves, Department of Chemistry, Monmouth College, Monmouth, IL 61462; [email protected]

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 particlein-a-box if background material is not provided.

File Names: WorkAndHeat3DHighT.mcd, WorkAndHeat3DHighT.pdf Keywords: Physical Chemistry, Upper Division Undergraduate, Thermodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Computer-Based Learning, Mathematics/Symbolic Mathematics Requires Mathcad 11 or higher.

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

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The population of states (pInitial) as a function of quantum number (n) for a one-dimensional box at 273 K.

Vol. 81 No. 10 October 2004



Journal of Chemical Education

1535