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The adiabatic compression of a gas causes a rise in temperature of the gas. Adiabatic expansion against pressure, or a spring, causes a drop in temperature. In contrast, free expansion is an isothermal process for an ideal gas.
We assume the expansion occurs without exchange of heat (adiabatic expansion). Doing this work, air inside the cylinder will cool to below the target temperature. To return to the target temperature (still with a free piston), the air must be heated, but is no longer under constant volume, since the piston is free to move as the gas is reheated.
The adiabatic (no heat exchanged) expansion of a gas may be carried out in a number of ways. The change in temperature experienced by the gas during expansion depends not only on the initial and final pressure, but also on the manner in which the expansion is carried out.
The Joule expansion (a subset of free expansion) is an irreversible process in thermodynamics in which a volume of gas is kept in one side of a thermally isolated container (via a small partition), with the other side of the container being evacuated. The partition between the two parts of the container is then opened, and the gas fills the ...
It is characterized by isentropic compression and expansion, and isobaric heat addition and rejection, though practical engines have adiabatic rather than isentropic steps. The most common current application is in airbreathing jet engines and gas turbine engines.
Most steady-flow devices operate under adiabatic conditions, and the ideal process for these devices is the isentropic process. The parameter that describes how efficiently a device approximates a corresponding isentropic device is called isentropic or adiabatic efficiency.
Under other conditions, free-energy change is not equal to work; for instance, for a reversible adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas, =. Importantly, for a heat engine, including the Carnot cycle , the free-energy change after a full cycle is zero, Δ cyc A = 0 {\displaystyle \Delta _{\text{cyc}}A=0} , while the engine produces nonzero work.
Adiabatic process: occurs without loss or gain of energy by heat; Isenthalpic process: occurs at a constant enthalpy; Isentropic process: a reversible adiabatic process, occurs at a constant entropy; Isobaric process: occurs at constant pressure; Isochoric process: occurs at constant volume (also called isometric/isovolumetric)