Answer to Question #185579 in Quantum Mechanics for Alfraid

Question

Explain microstates.

Answer 1

In describing a system made up of a great many particles, it is usually possible to specify some macroscopically measurable independent parameters ,  which affect the particles' equations of motion. These parameters are termed the external parameters the system. Examples of such parameters are the volume (this gets into the equations of motion because the potential energy becomes infinite when a particle strays outside the available volume) and any applied electric and magnetic fields. A microstate of the system is defined as a state for which the motions of the individual particles are completely specified (subject, of course, to the unavoidable limitations imposed by the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics). In general, the overall energy of a given microstate  is a function of the external parameters:

$E_r=E_r(x_1,x_2,x_3,...........,x_n)$