Koncepcja wprowadzenia funkcji rozkładu Maxwella w kursie fizyki ogólnej

Abstract

In the conventional teaching of the Maxwell distribution law to the beginners, the calculus of variation and Lagrange's method of undetermined multipliers are used. As a result the beginner must frequently employ mathematics beyond his present knowledge. In this paper the approach is suggested in which only the theory of combinations is used. The method is based on counting the number of distinguishable ways into which a group of localized particles can share out a given amount of energy. Then a simple inductive statistical argument (following R.W. Gurney) is given and Maxwell distribution function is deduced. The approach presented here introduces the student not only to Maxwell distribution but to the other basic conceptions of statistical physics as well. The method ought to be helpful for students and useful in teaching physics.