Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/paper-2/section-a/5/solution

For fixed Electron number , the specified electron degeneracy pressure scales as . Differentiating at fixed low temperature gives the degeneracy-pressure bulk modulus,
A monovalent sample has one conduction Electron per atom. Its carrier density is
using the Avogadro constant . Substitution with reduced Planck constant and electron mass gives
Equivalently, and for this free electron model. This is the assumed electronic contribution, not a calculation of the complete equation of state of real potassium: ionic cohesion and interaction corrections have been excluded as instructed. The supplied pressure is the zero-temperature form, appropriate to leading order for .

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