Final answer:
During the expansion process of a gas, the surroundings are doing work on the system.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that is true of a process in which one mole of a gas is expanded from state a to state b is: 3) When the gas expands from state a to state b, the surroundings are doing work on the system.
During the expansion process, the gas does work on the surroundings. This can be understood by considering the change in volume of the gas. When the gas expands, it pushes against the external pressure, thereby doing work on the surroundings.