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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 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 ...
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.
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.
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.
Equations Isentropic process (adiabatic and reversible) ... Free expansion = Work done by an expanding gas ... Ideal gas equations Physical situation
Isotherms of an ideal gas for different temperatures. The curved lines are rectangular hyperbolae of the form y = a/x. They represent the relationship between pressure (on the vertical axis) and volume (on the horizontal axis) for an ideal gas at different temperatures: lines that are farther away from the origin (that is, lines that are nearer to the top right-hand corner of the diagram ...