- #1
Sojourner01
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Does anyone else have a lot of trouble comprehending the derivations in statistical mechanics?
To me the mathematics feels somewhat archaic. Somehow it just seems as though it'd be neater if it was dealt with using matrix or operator methods. I always have trouble with the concept of entropy. If something can't be directly measured and isn't a real property, why bother calling it anything at all? Just impose boundary conditions on your equations of state and be done with it. I'm not saying thermodynamics is wrong, just that it does things in clunky and unintuitive ways.
Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics are by far my hardest classes. We had trouble with this lecturer last year; the trouble is, I can't put my finger on what it is he's doing wrong.
To me the mathematics feels somewhat archaic. Somehow it just seems as though it'd be neater if it was dealt with using matrix or operator methods. I always have trouble with the concept of entropy. If something can't be directly measured and isn't a real property, why bother calling it anything at all? Just impose boundary conditions on your equations of state and be done with it. I'm not saying thermodynamics is wrong, just that it does things in clunky and unintuitive ways.
Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics are by far my hardest classes. We had trouble with this lecturer last year; the trouble is, I can't put my finger on what it is he's doing wrong.