Modern Physics for Engineers Lecture slides 16c – Two-state spin systems and microstates

This lecture part moves to discussing actual physical systems, here of two-state spin systems (such as electrons), and adds the possibility that the "spin up" and "spin down" states could have different energies. This then gives a model system for introducing many physical concepts and behaviors. It also introduces the concept of accessible microstates and basic assumptions often used in statistical mechanics. (slides)