The First Law of Thermodynamics
 

The First Law of Thermodynamics problem 34


An ideal gas has a volume of at a pressure of and a temperature of , as shown in the figure below.




The gas suddenly expands to a volume of . During the expansion, no thermal energy is transferred. The final pressure of the gas is at temperature , as shown in the figure above.


  • Show that the number of gas molecules is .


    • Show that the final temperature of the gas is .


    • The average translational kinetic energy of a molecule of an ideal gas is given by




      where is the thermodynamic temperature and is the Boltzmann constant. Calculate the increase in internal energy of the gas.


  • Use the first law of thermodynamics to explain why the external work done on the gas during the expansion is equal to the increase in internal energy in (b)(ii).


 

main author and content editor: Ebenezer Famadewa