We want first to solve the problem... namely to calculate the probability of state distributions from the number of different distributions. We want … - Ludwig Boltzmann

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We want first to solve the problem... namely to calculate the probability of state distributions from the number of different distributions. We want first to treat as simple a case as possible, namely a gas of rigid absolutely elastic spherical molecules trapped in a container with absolutely elastic walls. Even in this case, the application of is not easy. The number of molecules is not infinite... yet the number of velocities each molecule is capable of is effectively infinite... to facilitate understanding, I will... consider a limiting case.