microstate

(noun)

The specific detailed microscopic configuration of a system.

Related Terms

  • degeneracy
  • absolute zero

Examples of microstate in the following topics:

  • Stastical Interpretation of Entropy

    • The following table shows all possibilities along with numbers of possible configurations (or microstate; a detailed description of every element of a system).
    • Note that all of these conclusions are based on the crucial assumption that each microstate is equally probable.
    • There is only 1 way (1 microstate) to get the most orderly arrangement of 100 heads.
    • There are very few ways to accomplish this (very few microstates corresponding to it), and so it is exceedingly unlikely ever to occur.
  • The Third Law

    • Entropy is related to the number of possible microstates, and with only one microstate available at zero kelvin the entropy is exactly zero.
    • where kB is the Bolzmann constant and W is the number of microstates.
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