Updates and Corrections to Statistical and Thermal Physics

by Harvey Gould and Jan Tobochnik

Page
xvi

Correction
We inadvertently omitted Irwin Oppenheim in our acknowledgements of people who
read and commented on individual chapters.

xvii

Ventura Rodriquez should be Ventura Rodriguez.

18

Problem 1.8, line 7. Replace v0 = (2E0 /m)1/2 /N by v0 = (2E0 /mN )1/2 . We thank
Rick Oiesen for this correction.

27

Problem 1.10, line 2. Replace N/2 by N . We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

54

Just before Problem 2.17, T2 = 250 K should be T2 = 227 K. We thank Alex Dombos
for this correction.

57

Line immediately after Eq. (2.57) . . . work done on the gas is W and . . . should
be . . . work done on the gas is Q and . . . .

68

In the line immediately after Eq. (2.94) the reference to (2.109) should be to (2.93).

69

Replace 209,000 in Eq. (2.96) by 209,200 to be consistent with Eq. (2.97). We thank
Daniel E. Moore for pointing out this inconsistency.

72

In Eq. (2.106), the limits of integration in both integrals should be interchanged so

that Eq. (2.106) becomes
1
S =
T

V2

V1

1
P dV =
T

V2

V1

N kT
V2
dV = N k ln .
V
V1

(2.106)

We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

79

Remove the phrase and the fundamental thermodynamic relation (2.128) in the
sentence before Eq. (2.140).

95

Rick Oiesen pointed out that the minus sign in front of (1 1) in Eq. (2.232) should
be an equals sign:
Z

1,1

f =
0,0

103

1,1
df = xy]0,0
= (1 1) (0 0) = 1.

(2.232)

In Problem 2.54(a) replace the parenthetical remark, with Black holes are a consequence of the general theory of relativity, and thus we expect that the radius depends
only on M , G, and c.

Page

Correction

103

In Problem 2.55 ideal gas should be replaced by monatomic ideal gas in part (a). In
part (d) change increase the volume to increase the volume to V2 .

104

In Problem 2.56 replace an ideal gas by a monatomic ideal gas. In part (d) replace
pressure by pressure change and volume by volume change. Also, replace is heated
by is cooled.

108

Equation (2.257) should read

S =

110

TV 2
.
CP

(2.257)

The Kuhn reference should read Thomas S. Kuhn, Energy conservation as an example . . . .

112

Paragraph 3, line 5. Replace probably by probability. We thank Rick Oiesen for this
correction.

120

In Example 3.9, the corrected equations are

91
1
x2 = (1 + 4 + 9 + 16 + 25 + 36) =
6
6
91 49
35
x2 =

=
2.92
6
4
12

x 2.92 = 1.71.

(3.23b)
(3.23c)
(3.23d)

We thank Alex Dombos for sending us this correction.

128

Equation (3.47a) should read

h
i
dS
= ln P1 + 1 2[ln(3 f 2P1 ) + 1] + [ln(f 2 + P1 ) + 1]
dP1

128

Equation (3.48) should read

P (A) = P (A|B)P (B) + P (A| B)P (B).

133

(3.48)

Equation (3.64d) should read

= 0.02 0.90 0.05 = 0.00090.

139

(3.47a))

(3.64d)

In the first line of the text there are WN 1 (n 1, n0 ) ways of reaching the first case
and WN 1 (n, n0 1) . . .

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Correction

150

In Problem 3.40, p(vx ) = (a/)3/2 eavx should be replaced by p(vx ) =

(a/)1/2 eavx .
162

In Eq. (3.160), the index of summation should be j instead of i:

M

X gj
f

= 0.
j
xi
xi

(3.160)

 1 3N  2L 3N 3N/2

(2mE)3N/2
2
h
(3N/2)!

(4.48c)

j=1

202

Equation (4.48c) should read

Equation (4.48d) is correct as written.

202

In the line before Eq. (4.50a), the reference to Eq. (3.101) should be to Eq. (3.102).
We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

217

In the line after Eq. (4.103b), the reference to Eq. (4.91) should be to Eq. (4.92).
We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

217

As pointed out by Yeeren Low, Eq. (4.108) should read

F = E T + (S + constant).

(4.108)

To obtain consistency with the thermodynamic relation F = E T S at all temperatures, we set the constant in (4.108) to zero so that
F = E T S.
224

(4.109)

In Problem 4.31 remove the phrase for E/N  1 from part (a), delete parts (b)
and (c), and replace them with a new part (b) given by
(b) Compute the probability P (Ed ) for various values of E and N . Fit
your results to the form ln P (Ed ) = Ed + constant, where is a
parameter. Is simply related to the mean demon energy?

228

In the line above Eq. (4.145), the reference to Section 4.6 should be to Section 4.7.
We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

237

In Problem 4.50(b) in the second line, E kT should be E/N kT .

Page
243

Correction
Equation (2.53) should read (note the change of sign in the first exponential)
Z1 =

eBs = eB(1) + eB(+1) = 2 cosh B.

(5.3)

s=1

245

ZN in Eq. (5.15b) should be simply Z. We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

248

Second line after line Eq. (5.32) should read dF = SdT M dH.

258

Equation (5.73) should be

T++ T++ + T+ T+
T2 =
T++ T+ + T T+

304

T++ T+ + T+ T

T T + T+ T+

Replace last sentence in Problem 5.36(a) with Each spin interacts once with each
horizontal or vertical nearest neighbor. (Toroidal boundary conditions are redundant
for a 2 2 lattice.)

306

The year of publication of the text by Domb is 1996 rather than 2996. We thank
Rick Oiesen for this correction.

310

The factor of in the argument of the last two exponents in Eq. (6.5) should be 2 :
X
h X
 X


2 nx 2
2 ny 2
2 nz 2
Z1 =
e
e
e
= S3,
(6.5)
nx =1

ny =1

nz =1

320

In the line after Eq. (6.50b) p2 should be replaced by p21 .

328

The signs in the exponentials are incorrect in Eq. (6.77). The correct equation is
nk =

330

k
e(k )
=

1 + e(ek )

(6.77)

Two lines before Eq. (6.90) should read . . . and hence we will replace the sums in
(6.86), (6.88), and (6.89) by integrals. We thank Blake Laing for this correction.

336

Equation (6.119b) should read

V  2m 3/2
e
= kT
4 2 h3

345

u1/2 eu du

(6.119b)

The factor of h2 in (6.157) should be replaced by h

3:
Z


(2m)3/2 V F 1/2
=




d.
F
2 2 h3
0

(6.157)

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Correction

351

As pointed out by Rick Oiesen, the reference to (4.129) should be to (4.128) in the
line above Eq. (6.186).

355

In the line above Eq. (6.207), should be replaced by =. We thank Rick Oiesen.

356357

In Problem 6.37 the references to the left-hand side of (6.211b) should be to the
right-hand side of (6.211b).

357

In the Figure 6.4 caption temperature T should be density . We thank Rick Oiesen
for this correction.

359

The right-hand side of Eq. (6.216) is correct as written, but some readers might be
confused by the presence of N rather than N in front of the brackets. (The two
quantities are equal.)

360

Neff should be replaced by N  .

371

In Eq. (6.264) the variable x should be replaced by :

Z
(2m)3/2 3/2 d
P =
.
3 2 h3 0 e() + 1

373

(6.264)

Problem 6.63(b) should read (correction in italics)

Show that for a system of fermions the probability of finding an occupied state of
energy + equals the probability of finding an unoccupied state of energy .

389

In the first line V should be replaced by T . We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

390

The enthalpy after Eq. (7.28) should be written as H = E + P V .

390

In the last line enthapies should be replaced by enthalpies. We thank Rick Oiesen
for this correction.

393

In the second line of the solution to Problem 7.5, 8.7 should be replaced by e8.7 =
5934. We thank Rick Oiesen for this correction.

404405

In Eqs. (7.87) and (7.88) the terms in kT ln ni should be positive. In Eq. (7.93) and
the following line, the expressions with the concentration of oxygen should have x/2
instead of x. We thank Bob Ziff for this correction.

413

Footnote 4, Joseph Mayer was born in 1904 not 1920. We thank Bob Ziff for this
correction.

456

In Eq. (8.205) there is a missing left parenthesis in the inequality ( < r < ).

Page

Correction

466

The factor of Tc in the denominator of the left-hand side of Eq. (9.41) should be
removed.

504

The integral on the left-hand side of (A.66) should be

Z
xn
dx x
e 1
0
We thank Paul T. Baker for this correction.

506

The page number for the entropy/thermodynamic potential is missing; the page
number is 83.

Updated 13 April 2016.