MichPod said:why a molecular gas (say, H2) follows a classical distribution statistics?
PeterDonis said:What makes you think it does?
DrClaude said:At room temperature, diatomic gases behave classically.
The statistics for a real gas are not quantum in nature because real gases are made up of particles that have mass and volume, unlike quantum particles which are considered to be point particles. Therefore, the classical statistical mechanics approach is more suitable for describing the behavior of real gases.
The main difference between classical and quantum statistics is that classical statistics is based on the assumption that particles are distinguishable and can be described by their exact position and momentum, while quantum statistics takes into account the indistinguishability of particles and describes them in terms of probability distributions.
While quantum mechanics can be used to describe the behavior of individual particles in a gas, it is not suitable for describing the behavior of a large number of particles in a real gas. This is because the interactions between particles in a real gas are too complex to be accurately described by quantum mechanics.
The main limitation of using classical statistics for real gases is that it does not take into account the quantum nature of particles. This means that it cannot accurately describe phenomena such as quantum tunneling and Bose-Einstein condensation, which are important in understanding the behavior of certain gases at low temperatures.
Yes, there are situations where classical statistics fail to accurately describe the behavior of real gases. This includes low temperature and high pressure conditions, where the quantum nature of particles becomes more significant and classical statistics becomes less accurate. In these cases, quantum statistical mechanics must be used instead.