Calculating average every from partition function

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the average energy (E) from the partition function (Z) in statistical mechanics. The partition function is defined as Z = (1 / (1 - exp(-Beta * h * f))), where Beta = 1 / (kT). The user struggles with the differentiation of Z with respect to Beta, yielding a different result than the textbook answer, which is E = (h * f) / (exp(Beta * h * f) - 1). The correct differentiation involves applying the chain rule accurately to derive the expression for E.

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1. I can't seem to get the same answer my textbook does, basically I need to calculate E (average energy) from the Partition function (Z) which is defined as:

E=(-1/Z)*(dZ/dBeta)

Where Z=(1/1-exp(-Beta*h*f))
(where h and f are constants and beta=1/kT for simplicity)


So for my differentiation I get:
dZ/dBeta= -h*f*exp(-Beta*h*f)) / (1-2exp(-Beta*h*f))+exp(-2*Beta*h*f))

Which when multiplied by 1/Z gives:
-h*f + h*f*exp(-Beta*h*f) / (1-exp(-Beta*h*f) + exp(-2*Beta*h*f)

When the answer is apparently:

(h*f) /(exp(Beta*h*f) -1 )


Any help greatly appreciated!
 
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Note that

[tex]\frac{dZ}{d \beta}=-hfe^{-\beta h f}Z^2[/tex]

Does this help?
 
Last edited:

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