A sealed cylinder with a light frictionless piston holds argon atoms

PHYSICS · Multi-part · Fermi University Physics · Thermal, Statistical & Complex Systems · The laws of thermodynamics · The laws of thermodynamics

Thermal Physics, Ch The first law: work, heat and internal energy

Problem

A sealed cylinder with a light frictionless piston holds

N = 3.0\times10^{22}

argon atoms, treated as an ideal gas. The gas is in contact with a large reservoir at

T = 300\,\mathrm{K}

and is allowed to expand slowly (quasistatically) from

V_1 = 0.50\,\mathrm{L}

V_2 = 1.50\,\mathrm{L}

at the constant temperature

300\,\mathrm{K}

. Take

\Delta U = Q + W

with

W

the work done on the gas and

Q

the heat delivered to it. ((a)) Find the work done on the gas. ((b)) Find the heat delivered to the gas.