An Introduction to Thermal Physics · Problem 2.27

The Second Law — Daniel Schroeder

Physics — Statistical Mechanics · probability-arrangements

Problem

Rather than insisting that all the molecules be in the left half of a container, suppose we only require that they be in the leftmost 99\% (leaving the remaining 1\% completely empty). What is the probability of finding such an arrangement if there are 100 molecules in the container? What if there are 10,000 molecules? What if there are 102310^{23}?

Browse the problem library