Published January 2010
| Published
Journal Article
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The momentum distribution of a one-dimensional ideal gas of N atoms
- Creators
- Boozer, A. D.
Abstract
We calculate the average momentum distribution and the average deviation from this distribution for a one-dimensional ideal gas of N atoms. The calculation is performed using analytical and numerical methods, and the results obtained using the two methods are compared.We use these results to show that in the limit of large N, almost all the possible microstates of an ideal gas have momentum distributions that are very close to the Maxwell distribution. We discuss the significance of this fact for understanding why an ideal gas approaches thermal equilibrium.
Additional Information
© 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers. Received 26 February 2009; accepted 12 August 2009.Attached Files
Published - Boozer2010p6754Am_J_Phys.pdf
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Boozer2010p6754Am_J_Phys.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 17335
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20100128-110402774
- Created
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2010-01-29Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field