Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: chemical potential



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