I see, thank you for the clarification! I do realize that there is no need for the properties to hold only if the conductor is neutral; however, since it wasn't explicitly mentioned, I figured that property (v) was given by extending the example of a neutral conductor in an external electric...
I am reading Electrodynamics by Griffiths, and in section 2.5, he mentions that one of the properties of a conductor is that the electric field just outside the conductor is perpendicular to the surface of the conductor, and gives the following image:
However, I don't understand why the...
I realize that two systems of the same temperature could have vastly different internal energies; however, this in itself does not lead me to believe that there should be an exchange of internal energies between two such systems at equilibrium. What does convince me is Callen's argument (as...
I see, it seems I have made an unmotivated assumption. As long as ##dU## is infinitesimal there would be no change in entropy owing to ##dS=0##, and so at equilibrium such infinitesimal interchange of internal energy between the two subsystems is not disallowed (since that does not lead to a...
I guess not. Since we have that:
$$dS=dS^{(1)}+dS^{(2)},$$
given ##dS=0##, we can only say ##dS^{(1)}=-dS^{(2)}## but we cannot claim that both are 0 as well (the necessary condition for an equilibria of the two subsystems). Is the idea here to say that whilst the entropy over the entire...
I was going through the textbook Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics by Herbert B. Callen, and in Chapter 2.4 of the book, the author proves that given two subsystems separated by an impermeable and immovable wall which only allows for the transfer of heat, the temperature of...
This is the exact paragraph from unit 1.4 of the book:
Before this paragraph is the proof for ##\overline{(\Delta n_1)^2}=Npq## and after this it talks about ##\Delta^*n_1/\overline{n_1}## being a good measure of relative width of the distribution.
I am currently going through the first chapter of Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics by F. Reif which is on random walks, various mean values, etc. and specifically unit 1.4 mentions "The quantity ##\overline{(\Delta n_1)^2}## is quadratic in the displacement." This is with...
Partially because as I have mentioned in the question, I am really not sure what work 'interests' me, I'm open to any field in Physics as long as it's a valuable learning experience, and of course, whilst learning, I also want to ensure I have something to show for my experience/knowledge when...
I am a second year undergrad pursuing Physics and my primary question is when looking for work (internships, research work, etc.) is it recommended to apply for formal programs and fellowships (say research fellowships, summer/winter schools at good institutions, etc.) as opposed to say reaching...
I am extremely confused with how to represent vectors that do not start at the origin in spherical coordinate system. If they did start at the origin, the vector to any point is simply ##r\pmb{\hat{r}}##; however, what if it does not start at the origin as in the question above? One thing I can...
I don't see anything wrong with it, but my professor mentions that I need to round of the uncertainty in time to keep consistent with significant figures and decimal places. For instance, let us say I have a length measure of 22.1 cm and a time measure of 0.569824 s (just arbitrary values), then...
I am not sure how to approach this problem. I know that there really is no use taking time values accurate up to the sixth decimal place if my length values are accurate only to the first decimal place, after all errors should be comparable. So I wanted to know how I should quote my time values...
Whilst your analogy now makes sense, that is only because I have been able to make sense of the math which proves that irrespective of whether gravitational force acts on the rocket or not, which I initially couldn't, and hence this thread. However, now that I have worked through the problem as...