Search Results

Yes, what you say is true: if you add heat during the process of a liquid freezing into a solid, there will be no change in temperature. If two different phases are present in a system, then any addit …

As to why the pressure is higher at the bottom of a column of gas: from the perspective of molecular thermodynamics, pressure is caused by particle collisions. …

I think Peter Kämpf's answer is very good and I know there are already a lot of answers to this question, but I want to suggest another way of looking at it: Firstly, in order for the engine cycle to …

For a reversible process, the overall change in entropy is zero (i.e. no entropy is created). However, entropy can be transferred between different systems and the environment through reversible proce …

Ok, so David Hammen (rightly) debunked my previous answer, but I want to have another go because I feel that he hasn't provided a clear explanation of the molecular basis of hydrostatic pressure in a …

One reason why $T_\infty$ is used, rather than the temperature at any other point in the fluid is because that is how the coefficient $h$ is defined. $h$ is defined as the amount of heat that is trans …

But for the corresponding work done to be negative of one another, the each gas particle must be displaced in the opposite direction with same direction dr, which is not necessarily true. I think …

Ok, I feel a bit silly asking this. I'm asking in relation to this question here on the molecular basis of hydrostatic pressure in a gas. There's been quite a bit of discussion and one of the commen …

Yes, it will boil. Effectively, you will be heating it at constant volume. I'll try to explain what happens to the liquid (I'll assume water) as it boils. This image below shows the p-V-T (pressure, v …

I don't see why not, in theory at least. Although, bear in mind that a heat engine needs both a hot and a cold reservoir, i.e. a temperature differential. But, we have the moon, which is pretty cold. …

Yes. I find the best way to think about it is that, when a metal object is heated, all of its dimensions increase as it expands (assuming its not being constrained externally somehow, has isotropic ma …

In general, air pressure in the Earth's atmosphere is hydrostatic pressure, caused by the Earth's gravitational field. If there was no gravity then there wouldn't be any centripetal force and all the …

If you are considering a gas/partial vacuum that is not confined in a well-defined 'container', you would presumably want use specific volume (aka inverse density) instead. I.e. consider the amount of …