Question

Two cylinders each contain 0.15 mol of a diatomic gas at 350 K and a pressure of 3.0 atm. Cylinder A expands isothermally and Cylinder B expands adiabatically until the pressure of each is 1.0 atm. What is the type of expansion for Cylinder A?

1) Isothermal expansion
2) Adiabatic expansion
3) Isobaric expansion
4) Isochoric expansion

Answer 1

Cylinder A undergoes isothermal expansion, where the temperature remains constant despite changes in volume and pressure.

Step-by-step explanation:

The type of expansion for Cylinder A is isothermal expansion. In an isothermal process, the temperature of the gas remains constant. Given that Cylinder A expands isothermally until the pressure drops to 1.0 atm, this indicates that although the volume is changing, the temperature is held constant at 350 K throughout the process. This can be contrasted with an adiabatic expansion, where no heat is transferred to or from the system and thus the temperature of the gas changes as a result of the expansion.