- #1
neworder1
- 66
- 0
Homework Statement
Ideal dielectric gas is in a container closed by a movable piston and in thermal contact with its surroundings, so is kept at constant tempertaure [tex]T_0[/tex] and pressure [tex]p_0[/tex]. Inside there is a capacitor with fixed voltage and total electric field [tex]E[/tex]. The gas has permittivity [tex]\epsilon(n,T) = 1 + n\alpha(T)[/tex], where [tex]n[/tex] is the density of gas in the capacitor and [tex]\alpha[/tex] is some function of temperature.
Find equilibrium value of [tex]n[/tex].
Homework Equations
Capacitor energy [tex]U = \frac{1}{2}\epsilon E^2 V_{cap}[/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
With constant pressure and temperature, the quantity minimized at equilibrium is Gibbs free energy, so at equilibrium chemical potentials [tex]\mu_1[/tex] and [tex]\mu_2[/tex] of the gas inside and outside the capacitor must be equal. While we can find [tex]\mu_2[/tex] easily, since this is an ideal gas, I'm not sure about [tex]\mu_2[/tex].