Question

B. Assume that there is a system with three possible states, S1 with energy 0 eV, S2 with energy 0.4 eV, and S3 with energy 0.6 eV. If this system is placed in contact with a reservoir whose temperature T is such that kBT = 0.5 eV, rank the probabilities of finding the system in each of the three states S1, S2, S3. If the probability of finding the system in any of the states is zero, state so explicitly.

A student says something like the following: “The probability of finding the system in the state S3 is zero because that state is 0.6 ev above the ground state, and kBT is only 0.5 eV. There isn’t enough energy in the reservoir to excite the system to S3.” Do you agree?

Answer 1