Physics II / The First Law and Heat Capacities
Practice question · True or false

An adiabatic expansion leaves the temperature of an ideal gas unchanged.

Hints
  1. The gas does work while no heat enters, what must supply that energy?
  2. It comes out of the internal energy, which for an ideal gas means the temperature falls.
Show the answer

False

Why

False, with Q=0Q = 0 the work must come from the internal energy, so UU and therefore TT fall. This is why compressed air warms and expanding gas cools, and it is what distinguishes an adiabat from an isotherm.

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