Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-2/a8/b/solution

Differentiate the electronic energy at fixed volume:
At , : thermal energy is insufficient to populate the upper manifold. At , : the two populations are already approaching equality and the electronic energy has a finite ceiling.
Figure 1.
Original electronic internal-energy and Schottky heat-capacity curves for the two-manifold model from 0 to 600 K
. Details.
Between these limits the heat capacity has a Schottky anomaly, peaking near K at . The energy rises monotonically toward ; its slope is largest at the heat-capacity peak. At 600 K it has not reached its infinite-temperature limit exactly.

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