What are microstates in chemistry?
1 Answer
Microstates are basically the many microscopic ways that constitute how we might see a specific observable. The ensemble average gives us what we observe in real life.
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Let's say that we have macrostate
i : two electrons on energy level0 , while one must be in energy level3 .ii : electrons must occupy energy levels0 ,1 , and2 , but none can be in the same energy level.iii : electrons must occupy energy level1 only.
In each of these macrostates, we have microstates that describe the many ways to satisfy the above conditions.
Basically...
- If we observe macrostate
i , three microstates constitute this particular observed macrostate. - If we observe macrostate
ii , six microstates constitute this particular observed macrostate. - If we observe macrostate
iii , one microstate constitutes this particular observed macrostate.
So in general, microstates are the microscopic arrangements on the molecular and atomic level that constitute what we observe in real life. If we take the ensemble average, that's what we see in real life.
For example, the ensemble average of the kinetic energies for a set of particles (an ensemble of particles) is the kinetic energy we see in real life, and this average was generated from the microstates of the set of particles that we observe.