Contents of An Introduction to Thermal Physics

by Daniel V. Schroeder, Department of Physics, Weber State University

Copyright ©2000, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company

The table of contents is also available in pdf format. That version comes straight out of the book, and includes page numbers.

Links within the table of contents below are to excerpts that can be downloaded for viewing. In most cases the excerpt includes only part of the section. Except for the preface, all of the excerpts are in pdf format.

Preface

Part I: Fundamentals

Chapter 1: Energy in Thermal Physics

1.1

Thermal Equilibrium

1.2

The Ideal Gas
Microscopic Model of an Ideal Gas

1.3

Equipartition of Energy

1.4

Heat and Work

1.5

Compression Work
Compression of an Ideal Gas [problems]

1.6

Heat Capacities
Latent Heat; Enthalpy

1.7

Rates of Processes
Heat Conduction; Conductivity of an Ideal Gas; Viscosity; Diffusion

2.1

Two-State Systems
The Two-State Paramagnet

2.2

The Einstein Model of a Solid

2.3

Interacting Systems

2.4

Large Systems
Very Large Numbers; Stirling's Approximation;
Multiplicity of a Large Einstein Solid;
Sharpness of the Multiplicity Function

2.5

The Ideal Gas
Multiplicity of a Monatomic Ideal Gas; Interacting Ideal Gases

2.6

Entropy
Entropy of an Ideal Gas; Entropy of Mixing;
Reversible and Irreversible Processes

3.1

Temperature
A Silly Analogy; Real-World Examples

3.2

Entropy and Heat
Predicting Heat Capacities; Measuring Entropies;
The Macroscopic View of Entropy

3.3

Paramagnetism
Notation and Microscopic Physics; Numerical Solution;
Analytic Solution

3.4

Mechanical Equilibrium and Pressure
The Thermodynamic Identity; Entropy and Heat Revisited

3.5

Diffusive Equilibrium and Chemical Potential

3.6

Summary and a Look Ahead

Chapter 4: Engines and Refrigerators

4.1

Heat Engines
The Carnot Cycle

4.2

Refrigerators

4.3

Real Heat Engines
Internal Combustion Engines; The Steam Engine

4.4

Real Refrigerators
The Throttling Process; Liquefaction of Gases;
Toward Absolute Zero

5.1

Free Energy as Available Work
Electrolysis, Fuel Cells, and Batteries; Thermodynamic Identities

5.2

Free Energy as a Force toward Equilibrium
Extensive and Intensive Quantities; Gibbs Free Energy
and Chemical Potential

5.3

Phase Transformations of Pure Substances
Diamonds and Graphite; The Clausius-Clapeyron Relation;
The van der Waals Model

5.4

Phase Transformations of Mixtures
Free Energy of a Mixture; Phase Changes of a Miscible Mixture;
Phase Changes of a Eutectic System

5.5

Dilute Solutions
Solvent and Solute Chemical Potentials; Osmotic Pressure;
Boiling and Freezing Points

5.6

Chemical Equilibrium
Nitrogen Fixation; Dissociation of Water; Oxygen Dissolving
in Water; Ionization of Hydrogen

Chapter 6: Boltzmann Statistics

6.1

The Boltzmann Factor
The Partition Function; Thermal Excitation of Atoms

6.2

Average Values
Paramagnetism; Rotation of Diatomic Molecules

6.3

The Equipartition Theorem

6.4

The Maxwell Speed Distribution

6.5

Partition Functions and Free Energy

6.6

Partition Functions for Composite Systems

6.7

Ideal Gas Revisited
The Partition Function; Predictions

7.1

The Gibbs Factor
An Example: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

7.2

Bosons and Fermions
The Distribution Functions

7.3

Degenerate Fermi Gases
Zero Temperature; Small Nonzero Temperatures;
The Density of States; The Sommerfeld Expansion

7.4

Blackbody Radiation
The Ultraviolet Catastrophe; The Planck Distribution; Photons;
Summing over Modes; The Planck Spectrum; Total Energy;
Entropy of a Photon Gas; The Cosmic Background Radiation;
Photons Escaping through a Hole; Radiation from Other Objects;
The Sun and the Earth

7.5

Debye Theory of Solids

7.6

Bose-Einstein Condensation
Real-World Examples; Why Does it Happen?

8.1

Weakly Interacting Gases
The Partition Function; The Cluster Expansion;
The Second Virial Coefficient

8.2

The Ising Model of a Ferromagnet
Exact Solution in One Dimension; The Mean Field Approximation;
Monte Carlo Simulation

Appendix A: Elements of Quantum Mechanics

A.1

Evidence for Wave-Particle Duality
The Photoelectric Effect; Electron Diffraction

A.2

Wavefunctions
The Uncertainty Principle; Linearly Independent Wavefunctions

A.3

Definite-Energy Wavefunctions
The Particle in a Box; The Harmonic Oscillator;
The Hydrogen Atom

A.4

Angular Momentum
Rotating Molecules; Spin

A.5

Systems of Many Particles

A.6

Quantum Field Theory

B.1

Gaussian Integrals

B.2

The Gamma Function

B.3

Stirling's Approximation

B.4

Area of a d-Dimensional Hypersphere

B.5

Integrals of Quantum Statistics

Suggested Reading