One mole of an ideal diatomic gas ( ) is initially at pressure and volume
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Further mechanics and thermal physics · Further mechanics and thermal physics
Problem
One mole of an ideal diatomic gas (γ=1.4) is initially at pressure 2.0×105Pa and volume 0.030m3. The gas expands reversibly and adiabatically until its volume doubles.
(i) Determine the final pressure of the gas after the expansion.
(ii) Calculate the work done by the gas during the adiabatic expansion.
(iii) Using the same initial state, calculate the work that would be done by the gas if it instead expanded isothermally to the same final volume. (Take R=8.314J mol−1K−1.)
(iv) Compare the magnitudes of the works obtained in parts (ii) and (iii) and state which process does more work, giving a brief reason.