Abstract. The probability distribution for the energy (velocity) of a particle in the microcanonical ensemble is obtained for some simple systems. Although in the thermodynamic limit the distribution has the well-known Boltzmann (Maxwell-Boltzmann) form (characteristic of the canonical ensemble), for finite systems this is not the case. This fact is important in the analysis of the results obtained from pedagogical computer simulations with a very small number of particles and constant total energy (i.e. simulations that generate the microcanonical ensemble).

Print publication: Issue 4 (July 1993)