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silence98
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Homework Statement
Consider a system of N particles, with two available energy states, 0 and E. What is the ratio of particles occupying the first state, n0, to particles occupying the second state n1?
Homework Equations
single particle partition function Z=[tex]\Sigma[/tex]exp(-ei/kt)
system partition function Zsys=Z^N
The Attempt at a Solution
Z = exp(0)+exp(-E/kt) = 1+exp(-E/kt)
I then looked at the probability of each state being occupied:
P(0)=1/(1+exp(-E/kt))
P(1)=exp(-E/kt)/(1+exp(-E/kt))
I assumed that the ratio of probabilities P(0)/P(1) was equal to the ratio of particles occupying the first state to the number occupying the second.
P(0)/P(1) = exp(E/kt)
I'm unsure if this is the right method? I don't see how to incorporate the system partition function..