Question

Gibbs paradox in statistical mechanics is related to
1. additive property of the temperature
2. additive property of the energy
3. additive property of the momentum
4. additive property of the entropy

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : additive property of the entropy

Explanation:

• The classical Gibbs paradox concerns the entropy change upon mixing two gases.
• Whether an observer assigns an entropy increase to the process depends on their ability to distinguish the gases.
• A resolution is that an “ignorant” observer, who cannot distinguish the gases, has no way of extracting work by mixing them.

So, a semi-classical derivation of the entropy that does not take into account the indistinguishability of particles, yields an expression for the entropy which is not extensive.