Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / ii / Paper 2 / 36A / a / Solution

In the canonical ensemble, a one-particle velocity state has kinetic energy $E(\mathbf{v})=m|\mathbf{v}{|}^2/2$ and hence probability density proportional to $e^{-\beta E}$, where $\beta =(k_{B}T{)}^{-1}$. The three Cartesian Gaussian integrals normalize the density to the Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distributionIntegrating over a spherical shell of radius $v$ and area $4\pi v^2$ gives the Maxwell speed distributionSinceits unique positive maximum is the Most probable speed in the Maxwell distribution