[TheShehanigan]

Hey guys,

I'm working out on my Physical Chemistry problems, and deriving each equation before I use it for knowledge of where they come from, but I can't for the live of me derive the equation for the Most Probable Speed w/ the Maxwell Distribution.

I'm arriving to:

F'(v) = 4*pi  * 2v  *  (M/2RT)^3/2  *  e^-mv2/2RT  * -mv/RT 

Setting it to 0, and there I get stuck. How am I supposed to solve this if I can't work out multiplication or anything, since I won't be able to solve for 0, or take the ln of 0. Any ideas/something I might be doing wrong deriving?

[Yggdrasil]

Your expression for dF/dv is wrong.  Remember to use the product rule when taking the derivative.  Also, when you solve for zero, here are two (related) hints.

1)  remember that you can divide by any non-zero terms.
2)  consider whether e^x = 0 is possible for any value of x