Corrections and Updates
- "plus" should be "or".
- "at constant pressure" should be omitted.
- "energetic" should be omitted in this and all
following expressions of "energetic microstates". It is redundant
to prefix the adjective "energetic" to "microstate" because
a microstate is always energetic! A microstate describes both the momentum
and the location of each molecule at one instant, i.e., each molecule in
its one unique energy-location arrangement of all the enormous number that
are possible for the system with that total energy. All microstates of a
system have the same total energy, i.e., that of the whole macrosystem.
- The word "all" must be deleted from this sentence.
It is clearly impossible for a mole of particles in any system at any one
instant to occupy or be in more than 6 x 10 23 energy-locations. It is equally
impossible in millions of years for all of the particles to have been in more
than a tiny fraction of the almost incredibly enormous number of microstates
that are possible for them in any system above 0 K ( far more than "googols"of
possibilities).
A better substitute sentence is "Isolated systems (or any universe of system plus surroundings) of atoms and molecules at one instant or over a long period of time can only occupy a fraction of the microstates that are accessible to them. However, if not hindered from doing so, an isolated system (or universe) spontaneously changes to any macrostate in which a greater number of accessible microstates are possible." (See "What is a microstate" at microstate.
- "available microstates" is better expressed as "accessible
microstates".
- "few microstates" is misleading. There are no
molar systems above 0 K that have few microstates. Even every femtomole system
above 0 K has far more than astronomical numbers of microstates.
- "are" should be "is".
- "transports" should be "that transports".