An ideal gas is contained in a cylinder by means of a movable frictionless piston, as illustrated in the figure below.
Initially, the gas has a volume of at a pressure of
and a temperature of
.
Show that the number of gas molecules in the cylinder is .
The gas expands so that its volume increases to at a pressure of
and a temperature of
, as shown in the figure below.
The average translational kinetic energy of a molecule of an ideal gas is given by
where is the Boltzmann constant and
is the thermodynamic temperature. Calculate the increase in internal energy
of the gas during the expansion.
The work done by the gas during the expansion is . Use your answer in (i) to explain whether thermal energy is transferred to or from the gas during the expansion.