Re: chemical potential

["Prof. John P. Ertel (wizard)" <jpe@NADN.NAVY.MIL>]

We have been using Kittel & Kroemer for over ten years now and have found
it to be excellent.  It's level of treatment may be pitched a little high
for the taste of some but I have found VERY few typos and NO real physics
errors.

The problems at the ends of the chapters are challenging but at exactly
the right level togo with the text.  We find that students who have
actually read and studied the textual material are generally able to work
problems assigned from the book.  I DON'T FIND THAT I CAN MAKE THIS
STATEMENT ABOUT ALL TEXTS!

On Tue, 28 Mar 2000, Carl E. Mungan wrote:

> > > I hate to say this, but Stowe's treatment of chemical potential
> > > is flat-out wrong.  For a correct definition of chemical potential
> > > you'll need a different book.
> > >
> > > Furthermore, Stowe's uses of the equipartition theorem are sometimes
> > > questionable.  In many places he makes statements that are apparently
> > > intended to apply to all thermodynamic systems, when in fact they
> > > apply only to systems consisting of quadratic degrees of freedom
> > > in the classical limit.
> > >
> > > These flaws are a shame, because in many ways I really like Stowe's
> > > book.  It's very well written and many parts are quite insightful.
> > > I also like the organizational plan.  My only other serious complaint
> > > is that it's a bit wordy, sometimes offering breezy explanations
> > > in place of honest calculations.
> > >
> > > When I taught out of Stowe's book I discovered a few minor errors
> > > as well which I'd be happy to look up and share if anyone is
> > > interested.
> > >
> > > Dan Schroeder
> >
> > I had a feeling this was what you were going to say. Rats - I was
> > hoping for a simple patch, not an outright toss of Stowe's whole
> > treatment of chemical potential.
> >
> > By all means, share your list of errors since we're covering most of
> > the book. To the list or to me privately, as you judge best.
> >
> > Thanks also to Jim and David for additional comments.
> >
> > So... can you now recommend an intro-level text which gives a correct
> > yet accessible treatment of chemical potential? I am hoping for an
> > approach like Stowe's based on physical ideas and pictures rather
> > than simply equations.
> > --
> > Dr. Carl E. Mungan, Assistant Professor          http://uwf.edu/cmungan/
> > Dept. of Physics, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL   32514-5751
> > office: 850-474-2645 (secretary -2267, FAX -3323) email: cmungan@uwf.edu

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