Part I: Basic

Concepts of
Thermodynamics
Lecture 3:
• Heat and Work
• Kinetic Theory of Gases
• Ideal Gases

3- 1
 HEAT AND WORK
Here we look in some detail at how heat and work are exchanged
between a system and its environment. Let us take as our system
a gas confined to a cylinder with a movable piston, as in figure
below.

• The upward force on the piston due to the pressure of the

confined gas is equal to the weight of lead shot loaded onto the
top of the piston (atmospheric pressure is neglected here).
• The walls of the cylinder are made of insulating material that does
not allow any heat transfer.
• The bottom of the cylinder rests on a reservoir for thermal energy,
a thermal reservoir (perhaps a hot plate) whose temperature T
you can control by turning a knob.
• The system (the gas) starts from an initial state i, described by a
pressure Pi a volume Vi , and a temperature Ti.
• You want to change the system to a final state f described by a
pressure Pf a volume Vf and a temperature Tf .

3- 2
 • During the change from state i to state f, heat may be transferred
into the system from the thermal reservoir (positive heat) or vice
versa (negative heat). And work is done by the system to raise
the loaded piston (negative work) or lower it (positive work).

• We assume that all such changes occur slowly, with the result
that the system is always in (approximate) thermal equilibrium,
(that is, every part of the system is always in thermal equilibrium
with every other part).

• Suppose that you remove a few lead shot from the piston,
allowing the gas to push the piston and remaining shot upward
through a differential displacement ds with an upward force F.
Since the displacement is tiny, we can assume that F is constant
during the displacement. Then F has a magnitude that is equal to
PA, where P is the pressure of the gas and A is the face area of
the piston. The differential work dW done by the gas during the
displacement is

dW = F ds = (PA)(ds) = PdV 1-31

When the overall volume changes from Vi to Vf, the total work done by

3- 3
the gas is:

Vf
W = ∫ dW = ∫ PdV 1-32
Vi

• During the change in volume, the pressure and temperature of the

gas may also change. To evaluate the integral in Eq. 1-32
directly, we would need to know how pressure varies with volume
for the actual process by which the system changes from state i to
state f.

3- 4
Example 1-16: The P-V diagram shows six curved paths
(connected by vertical paths) that can be followed by a gas.
Which two of them should be part of a closed cycle if the net work
done on the gas is to be at its maximum positive value?

In the important special case in which the outside pressure

remains constant during a finite expansion of the system, P
may be brought outside the integral sign, so that

2
W = P ∫ dV = P∆V 1-33
1

This equation shows that, when P = 0, i.e. when the external

pressure is zero, the work W = 0. A system that expands into a
vacuum therefore performs no work.

• When a system contracts, W is positive because the

surroundings now perform work on the system.
• For a cyclic process involving pressure-volume work
only, W is the area enclosed by the path in a P- V
diagram. W is a positive area when the path
corresponds to counter-clockwise rotation, and a
negative area for clockwise rotation.

3- 5
 Note: When a gas is changed from VI and PI to V2 and P2 at
constant T it can be done many ways, and the W values
obtained may be different for any two of these ways.
• The gas may be expanded along a reversible path. This is
indeed the path for which the integral of Pext dV for the change in
state considered is a maximum. All along this path, Pext = Pint
(except for an infinitesimal amount), and at no point could Pext be
increased (thus increasing the integral) without changing the
expansion into a compression. The outside pressure may,
however, be made smaller than Pint for any portion of the path.
For this changed portion of the path the contribution to the
integral would be decreased, and in addition the expansion
would not be reversible because it could not be changed into a
compression by an infinitesimal increase of Pext. It is apparent
that the reversible path is the only path for which the integral has
its maximum value. For any actual path, this integral, the work -
W performed by the system on the surroundings, is less than
this maximum value. Therefore,

- Wactual ≤ - Wreversible 1-34

• Expansion and compression
During expansion the external pressure is always smaller than
the internal pressure. During a compression, the external
pressure is always larger than the internal pressure, except in
the idealized limit of reversible compression.

3- 6
 In any actual (real) situation, Pext must be larger than Pint to
overcome frictions and to make the piston move. The work Wact
performed on the system is, therefore, larger than the work that
would be necessary for compression along the idealized path of
a continuous chain of equilibrium states. Therefore, in this case

Wactual ≥ Wreversible 1-35

Eq. 1-34 and 1-35 are the same when the sign is taken into
account. Thus, for both compressions and expansions for a
given change in state the work performed by the system is a
maximum for a reversible path.

3- 7
 KINETIC THEORY OF GASES
A gas is made up of atoms or molecules
• The pressure exerted by a gas is related to the steady
drumbeat of its molecules on the walls of its container.

• The ability of a gas to take on the volume of its container is

due to the freedom of motion of its molecules.

• The temperature and internal energy of a gas is related to

the kinetic energy of these molecules.

The idea that the properties of gases such as diffusibility, expansibility

and compressibility could be explained by considering the gas
molecules to be in continuous motion occurred to several scientists as
far back as the mid-eighteenth century (Bernoulli in 1738, Poule in
1851 and Kronig in 1856). In the second half of the nineteenth
century, Boltzmann, Maxwell, Clausius and others developed this
hypothesis into the detailed kinetic theory of gases.

The molecular theory of gases was developed under the following

assumptions:

For an ideal gas

1. A gas is composed of separate particles called molecules and

it can be represented by a simple 'model'.

2. Gaseous particles, whether atoms or molecules, behave like

point centers of mass, i.e. the volume actually occupied by the
individual molecules of an ideal gas under ordinary conditions is
insignificant compared with the total volume of the gas.

3. These point centers of mass are far apart and most of the time
do not exert any force (attraction or repulsion) on one another,
except when near the temperature at which they become liquids.

3- 8
 4. They are in continuous, completely random motion in a
straight line.

For a real gas

a. The volume occupied by the molecules under ordinary

conditions may not be negligible compared with the total
volume of the gas.

b. The forces (attractive or repulsive) exerted by the molecules

on one another may not be negligible.

Avogadro’s number
The mole is one of the seven SI base units and is defined as
follows:

One mole is the number of atoms in a 12 g sample of carbon-

12.

The number of elementary units in one mole is equal to

Avogadro’s number and it was determined experimentally:

NA = 6.02 X 1023 mol-l 1-36

Italian scientist Amadeo Avogadro (1776-1856), suggested that all

gases contain the same number of molecules or atoms when they
occupy the same volume under the same conditions of temperature
and pressure.

• The number of moles n contained in a sample of any

substance can be found from

3- 9
 n = N / NA 1-37

where N is the number of molecules in the sample.

• The number of moles in a sample can also be found from the

mass Msam of the sample and either the molar mass M (the mass
of 1 mole of that substance) or the mass m of one molecule:

n = Msam / M = Msam / mNA 1-38

Note: The enormously large value of Avogadro's number

suggests how tiny and how numerous atoms must be. A mole of
air, for example, can easily fit into a suitcase. Yet, if these
molecules were spread uniformly over the surface of Earth, there
would be about 120,000 of them per square centimeter. A
second example: one mole of tennis balls would fill a volume
equal to that of seven Moons!

Ideal Gases
Experimenters have found that if we confine 1 mole samples of various
gases in boxes of identical volume and hold the gases at the same
temperature, then their measured pressures are nearly - though not
exactly - the same. If we repeat the measurements at lower gas
densities, then these small differences in the measured pressures tend
to disappear. Further experiments show that, at low enough densities,
all real gases tend to obey the relation

PV = nRT 1-39

3- 10
which is called the ideal gas law. Here P is the absolute
pressure; T is the absolute temperature, n the number of moles
and R the gas constant, which has the same value for all the
gases;

R = 8.31 J/mol.K

Provided the gas density is reasonably low, Eq. 4 holds for any type of
gas, or a mixture of different types, with n being the total number of
moles present.

Work done by an Ideal Gas at constant temperature

Suppose that a sample of n moles of an ideal gas, confined to

a piston-cylinder arrangement, is allowed to expand from an
initial volume Vi to a final volume Vf. Suppose further that the
temperature T of the gas is held constant throughout the
process. Such a process is called an isothermal expansion
(and the reverse is called an isothermal compression).
Vf
∫
W = dW = ∫Vi
PdV
1-40

On a p-V diagram, an isotherm is a curve that connects

points that have the same temperature. It is then a graph of
pressure versus volume for a gas whose temperature T is held
constant, that is, a graph of

1 1
P = nRT = (const) 1-41
V V

3- 11
 Let us consider the reversible expansion of an ideal gas at
constant temperature T, in which the external pressure Pext is
successively reduced so that it always balances the internal
pressure Pint.

By the ideal gas equation:

nRT
Pext = Pint =
V
thus,
f f dV Vf
W =− ∫
i
Pext dV = −nRT ∫
i V
= −nRT ln
Vi 1-42

3- 12
 The yellow area represents the work performed by the system
and is, therefore, equal to - W. As will be seen later, heat has
to be supplied to the system to keep the temperature of the
expanding gas constant.
• For an expansion, Vf > Vi by definition, so the ratio Vf /Vi in Eq. 1-42 is
greater than unity. The natural logarithm of a quantity greater than
unity is positive, and so the work W done by an ideal gas during an
isothermal expansion is negative, as we expect. For a compression,
we have Vf < Vi , so the ratio of volumes in Eq. 1-42 is less than unity.
The natural logarithm in that equation - hence the work W- is positive,
again as we expect.

Work done by an Ideal Gas at constant volume

If the volume of the gas is constant, then Eq. 1-40
yields
W=0 1-43

Work done by an Ideal Gas at constant pressure

If, instead, the volume changes while the pressure P of the gas
is held constant, then Eq. 1-40 becomes

3- 13
 W = P (Vf - Vi) = P ∆ V 1-44

Example 1-17: A cylinder contains 12 L of oxygen at 20°C and 15 atm.

The temperature is raised to 35°C, and the volume reduced to 8.5 L.
What is the final pressure of the gas in atmospheres? Assume that the
gas is ideal.

Hint: use Eq. 1-39: PV = nRT

Answer: 22 atm

Example 1-18: One mole of oxygen (assume it to be an ideal gas)

expands at a constant temperature T of 310 K from an initial volume Vi
of 12 L to a final volume Vf of 19 L. How much work is done by the
expanding gas?

Answer: 1180 J

Pressure, Temperature and RMS Speed

.Assume n moles of an ideal gas are confined in a cubical box

of volume V, as in figure. The walls of the box are held at
temperature T. What is the connection between the pressure P
exerted by the gas on the walls and the speeds of the
molecules?

3- 14
• The molecules of gas in the box are moving in all directions and with
various speeds, bumping into each other and bouncing from the walls
of the box like balls in a racquetball court. We ignore (for the time
being) collisions of the molecules with one another and consider only
elastic collisions with the walls.

• Figure shows a typical gas molecule, of mass m and velocity v, that is

about to collide with the shaded wall. Because we assume that any
collision of a molecule with a wall is elastic, when this molecule
collides with the shaded wall, the only component of its velocity that is
changed is the x component, and that component is reversed. This
means that the only change in the particle's momentum is then along
the x axis, and that change is

∆px = (-mvx) – (mvx) = -2mvx

So, the momentum delivered by the molecule to the wall is 2mvx

• The molecule will hit the shaded wall repeatedly. The time ∆t between
collisions is the time the molecule takes to travel to the opposite wall
and back again (a distance of 2L) at speed vx.Thus

• ∆t = 2L / vx' (Note that this result holds even if the molecule bounces
off any of the other walls along the way, because those walls are
parallel to x and so cannot change vx.) Thus the average rate at which
momentum is delivered to the shaded wall by this single molecule is

∆px / ∆t = 2mvx / (2L/vx) = mvx2 / L

3- 15
Newton’s second law gives:

F = dp / dt

Where F is the force acting on the wall.

The pressure P on the wall is equal to the total force Fx divided by the
area of the wall and it contains the contributions of all the molecules
N
mv2xi
∑1 L N

∑1
Fx i= m
P= = = v2xi 1-45
L2 L2 L3 i=

We can replace the sum by

∑1 v2 = nN
i=
xi
2
A vx

2
where v x is the average value of the square of the x components of
all the molecular speeds.

Eq. 1-45 becomes

nmN A
P= 3
v 2x
L
or, by replacing mNA with the molecular mass M, we get:

nM
P= v 2x 1-46
L3
For any molecule,

v 2 = v 2x + v 2y + v 2z

3- 16
Because there are many molecules and because they are all
moving in random directions, the average values of the squares
of their velocity components are equal, so that

1 2
v 2x = v
3
and the pressure Eq. 1-46 becomes

nM
P= v2
3V

The square root of v2 is called root mean square vrms

The equation for the pressure becomes:

nM 2
P= v rms 1-47
3V
Combining the law of ideal gases (PV = nRT) with Eq. 1-47 we
get:

3 RT
v rms = 1-48
M

Note:
• The speeds are surprisingly high. For hydrogen molecules at
room temperature (300 K), the rms speed is 1920 m/s or 4300
rni/h - faster than a speeding bullet!

• On the surface of the Sun, where the temperature is 2 X 106 K,

the rms speed of hydrogen molecules would be 82 times larger
than at room temperature were it not for the fact that at such high
speeds, the molecules cannot survive the collisions among

3- 17
 themselves.

• Remember too that the rms speed is only a kind of average

speed; many molecules move much faster than this, and some
much slower.

• The speed of sound in a gas is closely related to the rms speed

of the molecules of that gas. In a sound wave, the disturbance is
passed on from molecule to molecule by means of collisions.
The wave cannot move any faster than the "average" speed of
the molecules. In fact, the speed of sound must be somewhat
less than this "average" molecular speed because not all
molecules are moving in exactly the same direction as the wave.
As examples, at room temperature, the rms speeds of hydrogen
and nitrogen molecules are 1920 m/s and 517 m/s, respectively.
The speeds of sound in these two gases at this temperature are
1350 m/s and 350 m/s, respectively.

• A question often arises: If molecules move so fast, why does it

take as long as a minute or so before you can smell perfume if
someone opens a bottle across a room? Although the molecules
move very fast between collisions -a given molecule will wander
only very slowly away from its release point.

Translational Kinetic Energy

We again consider a single molecule of an ideal gas as it
moves around in a box, but we now assume that its speed
changes when it collides with other molecules.

• Its translational kinetic energy at any instant is

KE = ½ mv2

3- 18
 • Its average translational kinetic energy over the time that we
watch it is

KE = 1 mv2 = 1 mv 2 = 1 2
mvrms 1-49
2 2 2

Here we make the assumption that the average speed of the

molecule during our observation is the same as the average
speed of all the molecules at any given time. (Provided the total
energy of the gas is not changing and we observe our molecule
for long enough, this assumption is appropriate.)

• Substituting for vrms from Eq. 1-48 we get

3 RT
KE =
2NA

3
or KE = kT 1-49b
2

k = R/NA is Boltzmann constant

k = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K

At a given temperature T, all ideal gas molecules - no matter
what their mass - have the same average translational kinetic
energy, namely, 3/2 kT. When we measure the temperature of
a gas, we are also measuring the average translational kinetic
energy of its molecules.

Example 1-19: A gas mixture consists of molecules of types I, 2, and 3,

with molecular masses m1 > m2 > m3. Rank the three types according to (a)
average kinetic energy and (b) rms speed, greatest first.

3- 19
Mean Free Path
A typical molecule as it moves through the gas, changes both
speed and direction abruptly as it collides elastically with other
molecules. Between collisions, the molecule moves in a
straight line at constant speed. Although the figure shows all
the other molecules as stationary, they too are moving in much
the same way.

One useful parameter to describe this random motion is the

mean free path λ. As its name implies, λ is the average
distance traversed by a molecule between collisions.

• We expect λ to vary inversely with N / V, the number of molecules per

unit volume (or density of molecules). The larger N / V is, the more
collisions there should be and the smaller the mean free path.
• We also expect λ to vary inversely with the size of the molecules. (If
the molecules were true points, they would never collide and the mean
free path would be infinite.) Thus the larger the molecules, the smaller
the mean free path.
• We can even predict that λ should vary (inversely) as the square of
the molecular diameter because the cross section of a molecule - not
its diameter - determines its effective target area.

3- 20
The expression for the mean free path is:

1
λ=
2 nd 2 N V 1-50

• To justify Eq. 1-50, we focus attention on a single molecule and

assume that the molecule is traveling with a constant speed v and that
all the other molecules are at rest. Later, we shall relax this
assumption.

• We assume further that the molecules are spheres of diameter d. A

collision will then take place if the centers of the molecules come
within a distance d of each other (see figure below). Another, more
helpful way to look at the situation is to consider the single molecule to
have a radius of d and all the other molecules to be points. This does
not change our criterion for a collision.

• As the single molecule zigzags through the gas, it sweeps out a short
cylinder of cross-sectional area π d2 between successive collisions. If
we watch this molecule for a time interval ∆t, it moves a distance v ∆t,
where v is its assumed speed. Thus, if we align all the short cylinders

3- 21
 swept out in ∆t, we form a composite cylinder (see figure) of length v
∆t and volume (π d2) (v ∆t). The number of collisions that occur is then
equal to the number of (point) molecules that lie within this cylinder.

• Since N/V is the number of molecules per unit volume, the number of
collisions is N/V times the volume of the cylinder, or
(N/V) (π d2)(v ∆t).

• The mean free path is the length of the path (and of the cylinder)
divided by this number:

length.of . path v∆t 1

λ= ≈ 2 = 2 1-51
number .of .collisions πd v∆t N V πd N V

• This equation is only approximate because it is based on the

assumption that all the molecules except one are at rest. In fact, all
the molecules are moving; when this is taken properly into account,
Eq. 1-51 results. Note that it differs from the (approximate) Eq. 1-51
only by a factor of 1/√2.

• We can even get a glimpse of what is "approximate" about Eq. 1-51

The v in the numerator and that in the denominator are-strictly-not the
same. The v in the numerator is the mean speed of the molecule
relative to the container. The v in the denominator is the mean speed
of the single molecule relative to the other molecules, which are
moving. It is this latter average speed that determines the number of
collisions. A detailed calculation, taking into account the actual speed

3- 22
 distribution of the molecules, gives
vrel = 2.v

and thus the factor √2.

• The mean free path of air molecules at sea level is about 0.1 µm. At
an altitude of 100 km, the density of air has dropped to such an extent
that the mean free path rises to about 16 cm. At 300 km, the mean
free path is about 20 km.

Note: A problem faced by those who would study the physics and
chemistry of the upper atmosphere in the laboratory is the
unavailability of containers large enough to hold gas samples that
simulate upper atmospheric conditions. Yet studies of the
concentrations of Freon, carbon dioxide, and ozone in the upper
atmosphere are of vital public concern.

Example 1-20: The molecular diameters of gas molecules of different

kinds can be found experimentally by measuring the rates at which
the different gases diffuse (spread) into each other. For oxygen, d =
2.9 X 10-10 m has been reported.

(a) What is the mean free path for oxygen at room temperature (T =
300 K) and at an atmospheric pressure of 1.0 atm? Assume it is an
ideal gas under these conditions.

Answer: 1.1x10-7m

(b) If the average speed of an oxygen molecule is 450 m/s, what is

the average collision rate?

Hint: the average collision rate is found by dividing the average

speed by the mean free path.

3- 23
The molar specific heat of an ideal gas

Internal Energy U

• Assume that the ideal gas is a monatomic gas (which has

individual atoms rather than molecules), such as helium, neon, or
argon.

• The internal energy is the energy associated with random motions

of atoms and molecules. So let us assume that the internal
energy U of the ideal gas is simply the sum of the translational
kinetic energies of its atoms. (Individual atoms do not have
rotational kinetic energy.)

• The average translational kinetic energy of a single atom depends

only on the gas temperature and is given by

3
KE = kT
2

• A sample of n moles of such a gas contains nNA atoms. The

internal energy U of the sample is then

U = (nN A ) KE
or
3
U= nRT 1-52
2

The internal energy U of an ideal gas is a function of the gas

temperature only; it does not depend on any other variable.

3- 24
Molar specific heat at constant volume

Figure shows n moles of an ideal gas at pressure P and temperature

T, confined to a cylinder of fixed volume V.

• By adding a small amount of heat Q to the gas, its temperature rises a

small amount to T + ∆T, and its pressure to P + ∆.P, bringing the gas
from the initial state i to final state f.

3- 25
 • The molar specific heat at constant volume is defined from:

Q = nCv ∆T

• Because the volume does not change, the added heat increases the
internal energy of the gas

1 ∆U
Cv =
n ∆T
but
3
U= nRT
2
thus
Cv = 3/2 R J/mol.K 1-53

• The prediction for the monatomic gases agrees very well with the
experimental results. (Cv = 12.5 J / mol.K)

Note: For diatomic and polyatomic gases the values are different.

• Alternately, the internal energy of any ideal gas can be written as

U =n Cv T 1-54

and
∆U =n Cv ∆T 1-55

This equation applies not only to an ideal monatomic gas but also to
diatomic and polyatomic ideal gases, provided the appropriate value
of Cv is used.

Conclusion:
• The internal energy depends on the temperature of the gas

3- 26
 but not on its pressure or density.

• A change in the internal energy U of a confined ideal gas

depends on the change in the gas temperature only; it does
not depend on what type of process produces the change in
the temperature.

Note: Consider the three paths between the two isotherms in the P- V
diagram in figure below. Path 1 represents a constant-volume
process. Path 2 represents a constant-pressure process, and as we
will see shortly, path 3 represents an adiabatic process.

Although the values of heat Q and work W associated with these three
paths differ, as do Pf and Vf, the values of ∆U associated with the
three paths are identical and are all given by Eq. 1-55, because they
all involve the same temperature change ∆T. So, no matter what path
is actually traversed between T and T + ∆T, we can always use path 1
and Eq. 1-55 to compute ∆U easily.

Molar specific heat at constant pressure

We now assume that the temperature of the ideal gas is increased by

3- 27
the same small amount ∆T as previously, but that the necessary heat
Q is added with the gas under constant pressure. A mechanism for
doing this is shown in figure below.

• We can guess at once that the molar specific heat at constant

pressure Cp which we define with

Q = n CP ∆T 1-56

is greater than the molar specific heat at constant volume, because

energy must now be supplied not only to raise the temperature of the
gas but also for the gas to do work, that is, to lift the weighted piston.

• The heat provided by the environment is used to increase the

3- 28
 temperature of the gas and do work on the system:
Q = ∆U +W 1-57
By writing
W = P ∆ V = n R ∆T
We get

n CP ∆T= n Cv ∆T + n R ∆T
which gives

CP= Cv + R 1-58

Note: This prediction of kinetic theory agrees well with experiment, not
only for monatomic gases but for gases in general, as long as their
density is low enough so that we may treat them as ideal.

Example 1-21:
The figure shows five paths traversed
by a gas on a P- V diagram. Rank the
paths according to the change in
internal energy of the gas, greatest first

Example 1-22: A bubble of 5.00 mol of (monatomic) helium is submerged

at a certain depth in liquid water when the water (and thus the helium)
undergoes a temperature increase ∆T of 20.0 Co at constant pressure. As a
result, the bubble expands.
(a) How much heat Q is added to the helium during the ex-
pansion and temperature increase?

Answer: 2077J

3- 29
 (b) What is the change ∆U in the internal energy of the helium during
the temperature increase?

Answer: 1246.5 J

(c) How much work W is done by the helium as it expands against

the pressure of the surrounding water during the temperature
increase?

Answer: 831 J

Degrees of Freedom and molar specific heats

The equation for Cv for monatomic gases give the value 12.5 J / mol.K
which agrees well with the experiment. However, for diatomic and
polyatomic gases it does not. The reason is that molecules with more
than one atom can store internal energy in forms other than
translational motion.

Figure shows kinetic theory models of helium (a monatomic gas),

oxygen (diatomic), and methane (polyatomic). On the basis of their
structure, it seems reasonable to assume that
• monatomic molecules-which are essentially point like and have
only a very small rotational inertia about any axis-can store
energy only in their translational motion.

3- 30
 • Diatomic and polyatomic molecules, however, should be
able to store substantial additional amounts of energy by
rotating or oscillating. To take these possibilities into
account quantitatively, we use the theorem of the
equipartition of energy, introduced by James Clerk
Maxwell:

Every kind of molecule has a certain number f of degrees of freedom,

which are independent ways in which the molecule can store energy.
Each such degree of freedom has associated with it-on average -
energy of ½ kT per molecule (or ½ RT per mole).

• For translational motion, there are three degrees of freedom,

corresponding to the three perpendicular axes along which such
motion can occur. For rotational motion, a monatomic molecule has
no degrees of freedom.
• A diatomic molecule-the rigid dumbbell (see figure) has two rotational
degrees of freedom, corresponding to the two perpendicular axes
about which it can store rotational energy. Such a molecule cannot
store rotational energy about the axis connecting the nuclei of its two
constituent atoms because its rotational inertia about this axis is
approximately zero.
• A molecule with more than two atoms has six degrees of freedom,
three rotational and three translational.

Thus, for dia- and polyatomic gases, we replace

U = 3/2 nRT with U = (f / 2) nRT

Doing so leads to the prediction

CV = (f / 2) R = 4.16 f J /mol.K 1-59

Note: This is OK for diatomic gases however is too low for polyatomic
ones. More on this later.

3- 31
Adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas

A process for which Q = 0 is an adiabatic process. We can

ensure that Q = 0 either by carrying out the process very
quickly (as in sound waves) or by doing it slowly in a well-
insulated container.

Figure shows an insulated cylinder containing an ideal gas and

resting on an insulating stand. By removing weight from the piston, we
can allow the gas to expand adiabatically. As the volume increases,
both the pressure and the temperature drop. The relation between the

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pressure and the volume during such an adiabatic process is

PVγ = a constant 1-60

in which γ = CP / Cv, the ratio of the molar specific heats for the gas.

On a P- V diagram the process occurs along a line called an adiabat.

• When the gas goes from an initial state i to a final state f, Eq. 1-
60 can be written as

Pi Vγi = Pf Vγf 1-61

• If we replace P from PV = nRT, Eq. 1-60 becomes

TVγ-1 = a constant 1-62

And Eq. 1-60 can be written as:

Ti Vγ-1i = Tf Vγ-1f 1-63

Note: Proof of Eq. 1-60

Suppose that you remove some lead shot from the piston in the above
figure, allowing the ideal gas to push the piston and the remaining
shot upward and thus to increase the volume by a differential amount
dV. Since the volume change is tiny, we may assume that the
pressure P of the gas on the piston is constant during the change.
This assumption allows us to say that the work dW done by the gas
during the volume increase is equal to P dV.
Eq. 1-57 tells us that:
Q = dU +PdV

where Q = 0, dU = n CV dT.

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Thus,
n CV dT + PdV = 0

n dT = - (P / CV) dV 1-64

From the ideal gas law PV = nRT, we get:

P dV + V dP = n R dT 1-65
But CP = CV + R,

Eq. 1-64 becomes:

PdV + VdP
ndT =
C P − CV 1-66
and from 1-64 and 1-66:
dP ⎛ C P ⎞ dV
+ ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ =0
P ⎝ CV ⎠ V
This becomes
dP dV
+γ =0
P V
and by integrating we get

ln P + γ ln V = a constant
or
ln PVγ = a constant

and by taking the antilog of both sides,

PVγ = a constant

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