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(a) Give an expression for the chemical potential mu of an ideal classical monat

ID: 1405355 • Letter: #

Question

(a) Give an expression for the chemical potential mu of an ideal classical monatomic gas at temperature T and pressure P. (See notes Section 5c). Show that the chemical potential of Argon gas (atomic mass 40) at 25 Celsius (NOT Kelvin) and pressure 1 atmosphere (= 10^5 pascal) is -0.414 eV. (b) A monatomic gas, when in contact with a solid surface, may deposit atoms onto the surface (adsorption). Assume that adsorption occurs at well-defined sites on the surface. Each site can adsorb an atom in two configurations. In configuration # 1 the atom is bound to the surface with an energy epsilon 1 = -0.35 eV and in configuration #2 it is bound with energy epsilon 2 = -0.30 eV. It is not possible for more than one atom to bind at a given site. (i) What are the possible states (N, i) and energies E i^(N) of a site? (Do not neglect the important case of an unoccupied site!) (ii) In terms of T and the chemical potential mu give an expression for the probability that a site is occupied by an atom in configuration #2. (iii) Find the probability in (ii) above when the surface is in contact with Argon gas at T = 25 Celsius and pressure P = 1 atmosphere (= 10^5 Pascal). (You can regard the gas as a heat bath determining mu and T for the site). If there are many sites on the surface, what percentage of them are occupied in configuration # 2? (iv) Under the same conditions as in (iii), what percentage of the sites are empty (unoccupied by an Argon atom)?

Explanation / Answer

a)µ= µ* + RT ln P

µ= Chemical Potential

µ*=Standard Chemical Potential

R=Gas constant

T=Temperature

P=Pressure

µ=-KT ln[(2mkt/h^2)^(3/2) * KT/P]-------------------------------(1)

Standard Values of the given Variables:

R=8.314 Joule/Mole Kelvin

K=1.38*10^(-23)Joule/Kelvin

H=6.62*10^(-34)Joule Sec

M=40*1.66*10^(-27)kg=6.63*10^(-26)kg

T=298.15k

P=10^5 Pa

Substitute all the values in equation (1) we get

µ= -0.414 ev