The statistical basis of statistical mechanics is introduced using probability and probability distributions, including the binomial and Gaussian distributions.The example of a random walk is used to illustrate the relationship between these distributions and to introduce the central limit theorem.Microstates of quantum and classical systems are defined, along with the multiplicity function, which counts the number of macroscopically identical microstates in a given macrostate.The enumeration of microstates leads to the idea that ignorance of the exact microstate of a system in a macrostate can be quantified with the entropy.
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