Einsteins model of a solid help?

[fball558]

Homework Statement

the question I am working on says
A carbon nanoparticle (very small particle) contains 6000 carbon atoms. According to the Einstein model of a solid, how many oscillators are in this block?

im not exactly sure what this model is. i tried looking it up online but really did not have any luck. i got some answers but the all varied.
can someone please let me know what this is or how it relates to this problem

thanks!

 

[nealh149]

Well, in a solid, say with sound waves propagating through it, what's oscillating? That may get you on the right track.

 

[fball558]

sound traveling through solid makes the atoms vibrate. the attems are held togeather by "springs" and depending on the strenght of these "springs" that is how fast the sound travels.
so do i have to cound the "springs" if so how do i determine how many are on each atom??

 

[nealh149]

Well you could say that each atom is a single oscillator with three degrees of freedom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_solid

 

[fball558]

yeah i figured out what i did. i cubed it instead of * by 3
thanks!