ABSTRACT
One of the fundamental laws of physics is the law of energy conservation. In this chapter, and for many sections of the book, the authors shall limit the discussion to ideal linear magnetic systems, specifically paramagnetic systems that obey Curie's law. From the equipartition of energy theorem, it is a straightforward matter to obtain an expression for the heat capacity of an ideal gas. More generally, for an ideal gas made up of particles with f degrees of freedom to which the equipartition of energy theorem applies, the heat capacity expressions are and. The heat capacity of an ideal paramagnetic solid may be considered in a similar way to that just given for an ideal gas.
