Statistical Entropy
- Page ID
- 1881
Let us imagine that we have four colored blocks inside of a cardboard box that is divided in two by a line drawn down its center. Where would the blocks appear if you were to shake the box, set it down, and then open it to take a look? Well, let us examine the possibilities.
In figure 2 you can see that after opening the box there are a myriad if possible color combinations. But these color combination follow a pattern. Notice that there is only one way that all for blocks can be on the left side of the box, while there are six ways that the blocks can be organized such that two blocks are on each side. Notice that the organization of these boxes resembles a Gaussian curve. More possibilities exist for two blocks appearing on each side of the box, so most of the time the blocks will be organized in that fashion. Let’s call the number of possible arrangements or microstates W. As figure 2 demonstrates there are 6 microstates at which two blocks are on each side of the box. To calculate this value we can use the formula
To find the probability (P) that the red block will appear on the left side of the box we can simply count the number of times where this occurs and divide by the total number of possibilities.
\[ P_{r,left} = \dfrac{W_{r,left}}{W_{tot} = \dfrac{8}{16} = \dfrac{1}{2} \tag{3}\]
\[ P_{rg,left}=\dfrac{W_{rg,left}{W_tot}=\dfrac{4}{16}=\dfrac{1}{2} \times \dfrac{1}{2} = \dfrac{1}{2} \tag{4}\]
References
- Chang, Raymond. Physical Chemistry for the Chemical and Biological Sciences. Sausalito: University Science Books, 2000.