Editing Equipartition
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{stub-general}} | {{stub-general}} | ||
'''Equipartition''' usually refers to the fact that | '''Equipartition''' usually refers to the fact that | ||
in classical statistical mechanics each degree of freedom that appears | |||
quadratically in the energy (Hamiltonian) has an average value of <math>\frac{1}{2}k_B T</math>, | |||
where <math>k_B T</math> is the [[thermal energy]]. | |||
Thus, the thermal energy is shared equally ("equipartitioned") by all these degrees of freedom. | Thus, the thermal energy is shared equally ("equipartitioned") by all these degrees of freedom. | ||
This is a consequence of the ''equipartition theorem'', which is very simple mathematically. As an | This is a consequence of the ''equipartition theorem'', which is very simple mathematically. As an | ||
immediate corollary, the translational energy of a molecule must equal <math>\frac{3}{2}k_B T</math>, | immediate corollary, the translational energy of a molecule must equal <math>\frac{3}{2}k_B T</math>, | ||
since translations are described by three degrees of freedom. | since translations are described by three degrees of freedom. | ||
[[category: classical thermodynamics]] | [[category: classical thermodynamics]] | ||
[[category: statistical mechanics]] | [[category: statistical mechanics]] | ||