Recommended Problems
Daniel V. Schroeder,
Department of Physics,
Weber State University
Because the book contains so many problems, first-time instructors
and students using the book for self-study may appreciate the following
"recommended" list. These are the problems that I would recommend
working in a first course, or when reading through the book for the
first time. Disclaimers: (1) A lot of my choices below are pretty arbitrary;
in many cases an alternate problem could serve just as well.
(2) This list avoids many of the more "interesting" problems, because
these can be too distracting and time-consuming during a first course or
first reading; however, I would encourage good students to choose a few
additional problems that they find most interesting.
(3) I recommend that you read every problem, even on a first reading, to get a
feel for what else you could do at each stage. (4) Although I've listed
problems for almost every section of the book, this isn't meant to imply that
you should cover every section in a first course or a first reading;
just ignore the recommendations for sections that you're not covering.
Chapter 1: Energy in Thermal Physics
- Section 1.1: 1.4, 1.7
- Section 1.2: 1.12, 1.14, 1.16, 1.17 (if you plan to cover Section 8.1), 1.18
- Section 1.3: 1.23
- Section 1.4: 1.28
- Section 1.5: 1.32, 1.34 (required for 4.1 and 4.12), 1.36, 1.38
- Section 1.6: 1.41 (or 1.42), 1.45, 1.47 (or 1.48), 1.50
- Section 1.7: 1.56, 1.61, 1.63, 1.66, 1.68
Chapter 2: The Second Law
- Section 2.1: 2.1
- Section 2.2: 2.5ab
- Section 2.3: 2.9, 2.10
- Section 2.4: 2.13, 2.16, 2.18, 2.22
- Section 2.5: 2.26
- Section 2.6: 2.28, 2.29, 2.30, 2.32, 2.38 (if you plan to cover Section 5.4)
Chapter 3: Interactions and Implications
- Section 3.1: 3.1, 3.3
- Section 3.2: 3.10, 3.14, 3.16
- Section 3.3: 3.20, 3.24, 3.25 (except part f)
- Section 3.4: 3.31, 3.32
- Section 3.5: 3.35, 3.37
- Section 3.6: (none)
Chapter 4: Engines and Refrigerators
- Section 4.1: 4.1, 4.2
- Section 4.2: 4.10, 4.15
- Section 4.3: 4.24
- Section 4.4: 4.30, 4.33, 4.35, 4.36
Chapter 5: Free Energy and Chemical Thermodynamics
- Section 5.1: 5.1, 5.5, 5.8, 5.11
- Section 5.2: 5.19, 5.20, 5.22
- Section 5.3: 5.28, 5.30, 5.32, 5.35, 5.36, 5.37, 5.48, 5.51, 5.52
- Section 5.4: 5.60, 5.64, 5.68
- Section 5.5: 5.75, 5.76, 5.81, 5.82
- Section 5.6: 5.84, 5.87, 5.92
Chapter 6: Boltzmann Statistics
- Section 6.1: 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.6, 6.12
- Section 6.2: 6.15, 6.16, 6.20, 6.23, 6.26, 6.28 (requires significant computation)
- Section 6.3: 6.31
- Section 6.4: 6.36, 6.38, 6.41
- Section 6.5: (none)
- Section 6.6: 6.44
- Section 6.7: 6.48, 6.49, 6.52
Chapter 7: Quantum Statistics
- Section 7.1: 7.3
- Section 7.2: 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, 7.11, 7.13ac, 7.18
- Section 7.3: 7.19, 7.22, 7.23, 7.26, 7.28, 7.29, 7.31, 7.33
- Section 7.4: 7.42 (or 7.43), 7.44, 7.48, 7.51, 7.52
- Section 7.5: 7.58, 7.63
- Section 7.6: 7.66, 7.74 (requires significant computation)
Chapter 8: Systems of Interacting Particles
- Section 8.1: 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.5, 8.10
- Section 8.2: 8.17, 8.20, 8.26, 8.27
Appendix A: Elements of Quantum Mechanics
- Section A.1: A.1, A.7
- Section A.2: A.10
- Section A.3: A.13, A.14, A.15, A.19
- Section A.4: A.21, A.22
- Section A.5: (none)
- Section A.6: (none)
Appendix B: Mathematical Results
- Section B.1: B.1, B.2, B.3
- Section B.2: B.8
- Section B.3: B.10
- Section B.4: B.16
- Section B.5: B.17, B.19, B.21
Last modified on January 23, 2006.