Debye model

<p>In <a href="/facts/Thermodynamics/q4hIx3yP">thermodynamics</a> and <a href="/facts/Solid-state_physics/Cmc6hvyR">solid-state physics</a>, the Debye model is a method developed by <a href="/facts/Peter_Debye/C9rm7nx8">Peter Debye</a> in 1912 to estimate <a href="/facts/Phonon/tflWW6vw">phonon</a> contribution to the <a href="/facts/Specific_heat/9P0U6YgI">specific heat</a> (<a href="/facts/Heat_capacity/I63nzSyp">heat capacity</a>) in a <a href="/facts/Solid/hj5UsXno">solid</a>. It treats the <a href="/facts/Oscillation/6vSrm84a">vibrations</a> of the <a href="/facts/Crystal_structure/bJ4bCeHd">atomic lattice</a> (heat) as <a href="/facts/Phonon/tflWW6vw">phonons</a> in a box in contrast to the <a href="/facts/Einstein_solid/0RcNERHS">Einstein photoelectron model</a>, which treats the solid as many individual, non-interacting <a href="/facts/Quantum_harmonic_oscillator/JYA5J0h5">quantum harmonic oscillators</a>. The Debye model correctly predicts the low-temperature dependence of the heat capacity of solids, which is proportional to the cube of temperature – the Debye <i>T</i> 3 law. Similarly to the Einstein photoelectron model, it recovers the <a href="/facts/Dulong%E2%80%93Petit_law/MXGTe9Fq">Dulong–Petit law</a> at high temperatures. Due to simplifying assumptions, its accuracy suffers at intermediate temperatures.
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Debye model open-in-new

Debye model