PROBLEM: 1.

Compute the density (in units of 𝒎−𝟑) of an ideal gas under the following conditions:
(a) At 0°𝐶 and 760 Torr pressure (1 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 1 𝑚𝑚 𝐻𝑔). This is called the Loschmidt
number.

(b) In a vacuum of 10−3 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟 at room temperature (20°𝐶). This number is a useful one for
the experimentalist to know by heart (10−3 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 1 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑛).

Solution: (a)
The given temperature is 0°𝐶 and pressure is 760 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 760 𝑚𝑚𝐻𝑔
We know, 1𝑎𝑡𝑚 = 760 𝑚𝑚𝐻𝑔

Pressure, 𝑃 = 760 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟 [∵ 1 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 1 𝑚𝑚𝐻𝑔]

⇒ 𝑃 = 760 × 1 × 10 × 13596 × 9.806
∴ 𝑃 = 101325 𝑃𝑎

𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑇 = 0∘ 𝐶 = 273𝐾
Thus, the given temperature is standard temperature and pressure. Density is the number
of molecules in unit volume.

At standard temperature and pressure, one mole of gas contains Avogadro’s number of
molecules.

𝑁 = 6.02 × 10 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠
Also, at standard temperature and pressure, one mole of gas occupies,

𝑉 = 22.4 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
.
𝑜𝑟, 𝑉 = 𝑚 = 2.24 × 10 𝑚

Therefore, density of an ideal gas,

𝑁 6.02 × 10 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝑛= =
𝑉 2.24 × 10 𝑚

= 2.688 × 10 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑚
Solution: (b)
From the ideal gas equation is, 𝑃𝑉=𝑁𝑅𝑇

𝑁 𝑃
⇒ =
𝑉 𝑅𝑇

Therefore, density
𝑃
𝑛 =
𝑅𝑇
From the previous solution, let’s consider the density 𝑛 = 2.51 × 10 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑚
𝑃 𝑃
𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑠, 𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛 =
𝑅𝑇 𝑅𝑇
Given that, 𝑃 = 760𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟, 𝑃 = 10 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟

𝑇 = 0∘ 𝐶 = 273𝐾𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑇 = 20∘ 𝐶 = 273 + 20 = 293𝐾

𝑛 𝑃𝑇
𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑠, =
𝑛 𝑇𝑃
𝑃𝑇
⇒𝑛 =𝑛 ×
𝑇𝑃
10 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟 × 273𝐾
= 2.688 × 10 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑚 ×
293𝐾 × 760𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑟
= 3.295 × 10 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑚

Problem: 1.2:
Derive the constant A for a normalized one-dimensional Maxwellian distribution:
𝑓 (𝑢) = A𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓 (𝑢)𝑑𝑢 =1

Solution:

𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛, 𝑓 (𝑢)𝑑𝑢 = 1

⇒ 𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑢 = 1

⇒ 𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑢 + 𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑢 = 1

𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑢

= 𝐴𝑒 𝑑𝑢

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 2 ∫ 𝐴 𝑒 𝑑𝑢 = 1 ……………………….(a)

Considering, =𝑥 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒, 𝑢=

Therefore,
𝑚
× 2𝑢 𝑑𝑢 = 𝑑𝑥
2𝐾𝑇
𝐾𝑇
⇒ 𝑑𝑢 = 𝑑𝑥
𝑚𝑢
𝐾𝑇
⇒ 𝑑𝑢 = 𝑑𝑥
2𝐾𝑇𝑥
𝑚
𝑚

𝐾𝑇
∴ 𝑑𝑢 = 𝑑𝑥
2𝑚𝑥

As 𝑢→0, 𝑥→0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢→∞, 𝑥→∞

Putting these values in equation (a)
𝐾𝑇
2𝐴 𝑒 𝑑𝑥 = 1
2𝑚𝑥

𝐾𝑇 1
⇒ 2𝐴 𝑒 𝑑𝑥 = 1
2𝑚 √𝑥

2𝐾𝑇
⇒𝐴 𝑒 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 = 1
𝑚

⇒𝐴 ∫ 𝑒 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 = 1 …………………..(b)

From the Gamma function integral we know,

𝑒 𝑥( )
𝑑𝑥 = 𝛤(𝑎)

Applying this rule in equation (b),

𝐴 𝑇 =1 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑎 =

⇒𝐴 × √𝜋 = 1 Because, Γ = √𝜋

Thus, we find the value of

𝑚
𝐴=
2𝜋𝐾𝑇
This is the normalization constant 𝐴 for the one-dimensional Maxwellian distribution.
Problem: 1.7:
Compute λ and 𝑁 for the following cases:
(a) A glow discharge, with 𝑛 = 10 𝑚 , 𝐾𝑇 = 2𝑒𝑉
(b) The earth’s ionosphere, with 𝑛 = 10 𝑚 , 𝐾𝑇 = 0.1𝑉
(c) A 𝜃-pinch, with 𝑛 = 10 𝑚 , 𝐾𝑇 = 800𝑒𝑉
Where
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝜆 = 𝐷𝑒𝑏𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝑇 = 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝐾=𝐵𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑧𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑛=𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑁 =𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑏𝑦𝑒 𝑆𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒

Solution: (a) Given that,

𝑛 = 10 𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑𝐾𝑇 = 2𝑒𝑉
We know, Debye length, 𝜆 =

8.854 × 10 × 2 × 1.6 × 10
𝜆 =
(1.6 × 10 ) × 10

𝜆 = 1.052 × 10 𝑚
The number of particles in the Debye sphere,
4
, 𝑁 = 𝜋𝜆
3
4
= × 10 × 𝜋 × (1.052 × 10 𝑚)
3
= 4.88 × 10
Solution: (b)
Given that, 𝑛 = 10 𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑𝐾𝑇 = 0.1𝑒𝑉
We know, Debye length,
𝜖𝐾𝑇𝑒
𝜆 =
𝑒 𝑛

8.854 × 10 × 0.1 × 1.6 × 10

=
(1.6 × 10 ) × 10

𝜆 = 2.352 × 10 𝑚
The number of particles in the Debye sphere,
4
𝑁 = 𝑛𝜋𝜆
3
4
= × 10 × 𝜋 × (2.352 × 10 𝑚)
3
= 5.45 × 10
Solution: (c)
Given that, 𝑛 = 10 𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑𝐾𝑇 = 800𝑒𝑉
We know, Debye length,
𝜖𝐾𝑇
𝜆 =
𝑒 𝑛
. × 2× × . ×
=
( . × ) ×
∴𝜆 = 6.65 × 10 𝑚
The number of particles in the Debye sphere,
4
𝑁 = 𝑛𝜋𝜆
3
4
= × 10 × 𝜋 × (6.65 × 10 𝑚)
3
= 1.23 × 10

Problem: 2.1:
Compute 𝒓𝑳 for the following cases if 𝒗𝒍𝒍 is negligible:
(a) A 10 𝑘𝑒𝑉 electron in the earth’s magnetic field of 5 × 10 𝑇
(b) A solar wind proton with streaming velocity 300 𝑘𝑚/𝑠𝑒𝑐, 𝐵=5 × 10 𝑇
(c) A 1 𝑘𝑒𝑉 𝐻𝑒+ ion in the solar atmosphere near a sunspot, where 𝐵=5 × 10 𝑇
(d) A 3.5 𝑀𝑒𝑉 𝐻𝑒++ ash particle in an 8 𝑇 DT fusion reactor.

Solution: (a)
Given that, Kinetic energy of the electron, 𝐸 = 10𝑘𝑉 = 10 𝑉
Mass of the electron, 𝑚 = 9.1 × 10 𝑘𝑔
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛, 𝑒 = 1.6 × 10 𝐶
The earth’s magnetic field, 𝐵 = 5 × 10 𝑇
We know,
1
𝐸= 𝑚𝑣
2

2𝐸
⇒𝑣 =
𝑚

2 × 10 × 1.6 × 10
=
9.11 × 10

𝑣 = 5.93 × 10 𝑚𝑠

. × × . ×
And, 𝑟 = = = 6.753𝑚
. × × ×
Solution: (b)
Given that, Streaming velocity, 𝑣 = 300𝑘𝑚𝑠 = 3 × 10 𝑚𝑠
𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛, 𝑚 = 1.67 × 10 𝑘𝑔
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛, 𝑒 = 1.6 × 10 𝐶
The earth’s magnetic field, 𝐵=5 × 10 𝑇
Therefore
𝑚𝑣 1.67 × 10 × 3 × 10
𝑟 = = = 6.2625 × 10 𝑚𝑙
𝑒𝐵 1.6 × 10 × 5 × 10

Solution: (c)
Given that, Kinetic energy 𝑜𝑓𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝐸 = 1𝑘𝑒𝑉 = 10 𝑒𝑉
𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑚 = 4 × 1.67 × 10 𝑘𝑔
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑞 = 1.6 × 10 𝐶
Magnetic field, , 𝐵 = 5 × 10 𝑇
We know,
1
𝐸= 𝑚𝑣
2

2𝐸
⇒𝑣 =
𝑚

2 × 10 × 1.6 × 10
=
4 × 1.67 × 10

𝑣 = 2.189 × 10 𝑚𝑠
𝑚𝑣 4 × 1.67 × 10 × 2.189 × 10
𝑟 = = = 0.1828𝑚
𝑞𝐵 1.6 × 10 × 5 × 10

Solution: (d)
Given that, Kinetic energy 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝐸 = 3.5𝑀𝑒𝑉 = 3.5 × 10 𝑒𝑉
Mass of the 𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑚 = 4 × 1.67 × 10 𝑘𝑔
Charge of the 𝐻 𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑞 = 2 × 1.6 × 10 C
Magnetic field, 𝐵=8 𝑇
We know,
1
𝐸= 𝑚𝑣
2

2𝐸
⇒𝑣 =
𝑚
 2 × 3.5 × 10 × 1.6 × 10
=
4 × 1.67 × 10

𝑣 = 1.295 × 10 𝑚𝑠

× . × × . ×
And, 𝑟 = = = 0.0338𝑚
× . × ×

Problem: 2.6:
Suppose that a so-called Q-machine has a uniform field of 𝟎.𝟐 𝑻: and a cylindrical
plasma with 𝑲𝑻𝒆=𝑲𝑻𝒊=𝟎.𝟐 𝒆𝑽. The density profile is found experimentally to be of the
form
𝑟
𝑛 = 𝑛 exp exp − −1
𝑎

Assume the density obeys the electron Boltzmann relation 𝑛=𝑛0 exp (𝑒𝜙/𝐾𝑇𝑒)

(a) Calculate the maximum 𝑣 𝑖𝑓𝑎 = 1𝑐𝑚

(b) Compare this with 𝑣𝐸 due to the earth’s gravitational field.
(c) To what value can 𝑩 be lowered before the ions of potassium (𝐴=39, 𝑍=1) have a
Larmor radius equal to 𝑎?
Solution: (a)
𝑛 = 𝑛 exp exp − −1 (1)
𝑛 = 𝑛 exp (2)

Comparing (1) and (2) we get

𝑒𝜙
𝑒 −1=
𝐾𝑇

⇒𝜙= (𝑒 ) (3)

Differentiating equation (3) with respect to 𝑟

=− 𝑒 (4)

We know,
 ∂𝜙
𝐸 = −∇𝜙 = − 𝑟̂
∂𝑟
𝐾𝑇 2𝑟
= 𝑒
𝑒 𝑎
𝑑𝐸𝑟 𝐾𝑇 2 4𝑟
⇒ = − 𝑒
𝑑𝑟 𝑒 𝑎 𝑎

𝐾𝑇 2 2𝑟
= 1− 𝑒
𝑒 𝑎 𝑎

If =0

Then 1− =0

𝑟 1
⇒ =
𝑎 2
𝑟 1
. =
𝑎 √2
Therefore,
𝐾𝑇 2𝑟
,𝐸 = 𝑒
𝑒𝑎 𝑎
𝐾𝑇𝑒 2
= 𝑒
𝑒𝑎 √2
0.2 × 1.6 × 10
= × √2 × 𝑒
1.6 × 10 × .
=17.155 𝑉/𝑚
𝐸
𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝑣 = − 𝜃
𝐵
𝐸 17.155
𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑠, 𝑣 = = = 85.775𝑚/𝑠
𝐵 0.2
Solution: (b)
Comparing the force 𝑀𝑔 with the force 𝑒𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 for an ion.

Here, 𝑔=9.8 𝑚/𝑠

𝑀=𝐴𝑚
=39×1.67×10−27
Therefore, 𝑀𝑔= 39 × 1.67 × 10 × 9.8

= 6.38274 × 10 𝑁
Now,
𝐸 = 1.6 × 10 × 17.155
 = 2.7448 × 10 𝑁
Dividing 𝑒𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 by 𝑀𝑔 we get,
𝑒𝐸 2.7448 × 10
= = 4.3 × 10
𝑀𝑔 6.38274 × 10
⇒ 𝑒𝐸 = 4.3 × 10 𝑀𝑔
Hence, the gravitational drift is 4.3 × 10 times smaller.

Solution: (c)
We know,
Larmor radius,
𝑀𝑣
𝑟 =
𝑒𝐵
Now,
𝑟 =𝑎

∴ = 10 (1)

Therefore,
2𝐾𝑇
𝑣 =
𝑀

2 × 1.6 × 10
=
39 × 1.67 × 10

= 9.91 × 10 𝑚/𝑠
Now, we get from equation (1)
𝑀𝑣
𝐵=
𝑒 × 10
39 × 1.67 × 10 × 9.91 × 10
=
1.6 × 10 × 10
= 4.033989 × 10 𝑇