PED 208 Thermodynamics

Topic: Phase Changes. The Ideal-Gas Law. Ideal-Gas Processes

Assignment 5
October 1, 2024

1 Ideal Gases
1. A cylinder contains nitrogen gas. A piston compresses the gas to half its
initial volume. Afterward,
(a) Has the mass density of the gas changed? If so, by what factor? If
not, why not?
(b) Has the number of moles of gas changed? If so, by what factor? If
not, why not?
2. 3.0 mol of gas at a temperature of -120°C fills a 2.0 L container. What is
the gas pressure?
3. A rigid container holds 2.0 mol of gas at a pressure of 1.0 atm and a
temperature of 30°C.
(a) What is the container’s volume?
(b) What is the pressure if the temperature is raised to 130°C?
4. A gas at 100°C fills volume V0 . If the pressure is held constant, what is
the volume if (a) the Celsius temperature is doubled and (b) the Kelvin
temperature is doubled?
5. The total lung capacity of a typical adult is 5.0 L. Approximately 20%
of the air is oxygen. At sea level and at a body temperature of 37°C,
how many oxygen molecules do the lungs contain at the end of a strong
inhalation?
6. A 20-cm-diameter cylinder that is 40 cm long contains 50 g of oxygen gas
at 20°C.
(a) How many moles of oxygen are in the cylinder?
(b) How many oxygen molecules are in the cylinder?

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 (c) What is the number density of the oxygen?
(d) What is the reading of a pressure gauge attached to the tank?
7. The solar corona is a very hot atmosphere surrounding the visible surface
of the sun. X-ray emissions from the corona show that its temperature is
about 2×106 K. The gas pressure in the corona is about 0.03 Pa. Estimate
the number density of particles in the solar corona.

2 The Gas Laws

8. The gas in the container is in equilibrium, as shown in the figure. Which
one(s) of the following actions will increase the gas pressure inside?
(a) Placing mass on the piston
(b) Heating the container
(c) Adding gas from the tap

9. A gas is trapped in a vertical cylinder by a piston of mass 60 kg and area

of 300 cm2 . The open air pressure is 100 kPa. What is the pressure of the
gas inside the cylinder?
10. What is the pressure of the gas inside the cylinder in problem 15, if the
cylinder is placed horizontally?
11. What does an ’isothermal’ process mean? Explain how we can achieve an
isothermal process.
12. A gas sample occupies a volume of 60 L under 100 kPa pressure. What is
the volume of the same gas sample under 250 kPa pressure, at the same
temperature?
13. The volume of a gas sample decreases from 5 L to 3 L, when it is com-
pressed isothermally. What is the final pressure of the gas, if its initial
pressure is 120 kPa?

14. The pressure of a gas sample increases by 50 kPa while it is compressed

isothermally from 4 L to 1 L. What is the initial pressure of the gas?
15. A 24 L container is filled with air at 100 kPa. Then it is connected with
a 6 L empty evacuated vessel. What is the final pressure of the combined
system if the temperature stays constant?

16. A P-V plot for the isothermal expansion of a gas is given in the figure.
Draw the corresponding V-T graph.
17. The pressure of a gas increases from 100 kPa to 120 kPa isothermally.
What is the initial volume of the gas if the decrease in volume is 4 L?

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18. A 100 L empty vessel is to be filled with air at 4 MPa (One MegaPascal =
106 Pa). Atmospheric pressure is constant at 100 kPa. How many seconds
will it take the compressor to fill the vessel, if it absorbs 200 L of air at
atmospheric pressure, in one second, at constant temperature?
19. A glass tube open at both ends is dipped in mercury vertically up to half its
length, as shown in the figure. The total length of the tube is 100 cm. The
upper hole is then covered and the tube is vertically raised, slowly, out of
the mercury bath, so that it gives rise to an isothermal process. A column
of mercury of 25 cm length is observed to remain in the tube. What is
the atmospheric pressure? Hint: Use cm-Hg as the unit of pressure.

20. A 1 m glass tube, closed at one end, is immersed in water completely.

Find the open air pressure if the water rises 9 cm in the tube. Assume
that the temperature remains constant.

21. The piston in the figure is slowly lowered into the cylinder, so that it gives
rise to an isothermal process. Given that the area of the piston is A =
10 cm2 , the mass of the piston is 40 kg, the cylinder height is h = 30 cm,
and atmospheric pressure is P0 = 105 P a. What is the equilibrium height?

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22. What is the reason for calling the Kelvin temperature scale the ’absolute
scale’ ?
23. What is an ’isobaric process’ for a gas sample? Explain how we can achieve
an isobaric process.
24. What is an ’isovolumetric process’ for a gas sample? Explain how we can
achieve an isovolumetric process.
25. The V-T plot of a gas sample during a thermal process is given in the
figure. Plot the corresponding P-T graph for this process.

26. Absolute pressure in a sealed container is 100 kPa at 27◦ C. What is the
pressure in the same container at 127◦ C?
27. The pressure of a gas increases by 20% when its temperature is increased
by 55◦ C, at constant volume. What was the initial temperature of the
gas?
28. The movable piston in the figure is in equilibrium at a height of 40 cm
above the bottom of the cylinder, when the temperature is 27°C. What is
the height of the piston when the temperature is 127°C?

29. The volume of an ideal gas sample triples, as its temperature increases by
300 K at constant pressure. What was the initial temperature of the gas?
30. The temperature of a gas sample is increased by 100 K isobarically. The
volume of the gas increases by 20% during the process. What was the
initial temperature of the gas?
31. The temperature of a sample of gas increases from 27°C to 327°C, at
constant pressure. Find the ratio of its final density to its initial density.

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32. Plot the P-V graph for the cylinder-piston system shown in the figure.

33. An empty pressure cooker is closed at 1 atm and 27°C. Then it is heated
up to 227°C. What is the net pressure force on the lid of area 0.1 m²?
34. A car tyre is inflated until the gauge pressure (reading of the manometer)
becomes 3 atm on a day when the temperature is 20°C. What will the
reading on the manometer be for the same tyre on a hot day, when T =
40C? Assume that the volume of the tyre does not change and atmospheric
pressure is P0 = 1atm.
35. A test tube containing only air is plugged with a cork, in a room where
air temperature and pressure are 27°C and 100 kPa, respectively, and the
cross-sectional area of the tube is 1 cm². To what absolute temperature
must the gas be heated to pop the cork, if the maximum friction force
between the tube and the cork is 12 N?

3 Ideal-Gas Processes
36. A gas with initial state variables p1 , V1 , and T1 expands isothermally until
V2 = 2V1 . What are (a) T2 and (b) p2 ?
37. A gas with initial state variables p1 , V1 , and T1 is cooled in an isochoric
process until p2 = 13 p1 . What are (a) V2 and (b) T2 ?
38. A rigid, hollow sphere is submerged in boiling water in a room where the
air pressure is 1.0 atm. The sphere has an open valve with its inlet just
above the water level. After a long period of time has elapsed, the valve
is closed. What will be the pressure inside the sphere if it is then placed
in (a) a mixture of ice and water and (b) an insulated box filled with dry
ice?

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39. A rigid container holds hydrogen gas at a pressure of 3.0 atm and a tem-
perature of 20°C. What will the pressure be if the temperature is lowered
to -20°C?
40. A 24-cm-diameter vertical cylinder is sealed at the top by a frictionless 20
kg piston. The piston is 84 cm above the bottom when the gas temperature
is 303°C. The air above the piston is at 1.00 atm pressure.
(a) What is the gas pressure inside the cylinder?
(b) What will the height of the piston be if the temperature is lowered
to 15°C?
41. 0.10 mol of argon gas is admitted to an evacuated 50 cm3 container at
20°C. The gas then undergoes an isochoric heating to a temperature of
300°C.
(a) What is the final pressure of the gas?
(b) Show the process on a pV diagram. Include a proper scale on both
axes.
42. 0.10 mol of argon gas is admitted to an evacuated 50 cm3 container at
20°C. The gas then undergoes an isobaric heating to a temperature of
300°C.
(a) What is the final volume of the gas?
(b) Show the process on a pV diagram. Include a proper scale on both
axes.
43. 0.10 mol of argon gas is admitted to an evacuated 50 cm3 container at
20°C. The gas then undergoes an isothermal expansion to a volume of 200
cm3 .
(a) What is the final pressure of the gas?
(b) Show the process on a pV diagram. Include a proper scale on both
axes.
44. 0.0040 mol of gas undergoes the process shown in Figure EX18.35.
(a) What type of process is this?
(b) What are the initial and final temperatures in °C?

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45. A gas with an initial temperature of 900°C undergoes the process shown
in Figure EX18.36.
(a) What type of process is this?
(b) What is the final temperature in °C?
(c) How many moles of gas are there?
46. 0.020 mol of gas undergoes the process shown in Figure EX18.37.
(a) What type of process is this?
(b) What is the final temperature in °C?
(c) What is the final volume V2 ?

47. 0.0050 mol of gas undergoes the process 1 → 2 → 3 shown in Figure

P16.38. What are (a) temperature T1 , (b) pressure p2 , and (c) volume
V3 ?

48. An ideal gas starts with pressure p1 and volume V1 . Draw a pV diagram
showing the process in which the gas undergoes an isochoric process that
doubles the pressure, then an isobaric process that doubles the volume,
followed by an isothermal process that doubles the volume again. Label
each of the three processes.

49. An ideal gas starts with pressure p1 and volume V1 . Draw a pV diagram
showing the process in which the gas undergoes an isothermal process
during which the volume is halved, then an isochoric process during which
the pressure is halved, followed by an isobaric process during which the
volume is doubled. Label each of the three processes.

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50. The atomic mass number of copper is A = 64. Assume that atoms in solid
copper form a cubic crystal lattice. To envision this, imagine that you
place atoms at the centers of tiny sugar cubes, then stack the little sugar
cubes to form a big cube. If you dissolve the sugar, the atoms left behind
are in a cubic crystal lattice. What is the smallest distance between two
copper atoms?
51. The molecular mass of water (H2 O) is A = 18. How many protons are
there in 1.0 L of liquid water?
52. A brass ring with inner diameter 2.00 cm and outer diameter 3.00 cm needs
to fit over a 2.00-cm-diameter steel rod, but at 20°C the hole through the
brass ring is 50 µm too small in diameter. To what temperature, in °C,
must the rod and ring be heated so that the ring just barely slips over the
rod?
53. A 15°C, 2.0-cm-diameter aluminum bar just barely slips between two rigid
steel walls 10.0 cm apart. If the bar is warmed to 25°C, how much force
does it exert on each wall?
54. The semiconductor industry manufactures integrated circuits in large vac-
uum chambers where the pressure is 1.0 × 10−10 mm of Hg.
(a) What fraction is this of atmospheric pressure?
(b) At T = 20°C, how many molecules are in a cylindrical chamber 40
cm in diameter and 30 cm tall?
55. A 6.0-cm-diameter, 10-cm-long cylinder contains 100 mg of oxygen (O2 )
at a pressure less than 1 atm. The cap on one end of the cylinder is held
in place only by the pressure of the air. One day when the atmospheric
pressure is 100 kPa, it takes a 184 N force to pull the cap off. What is the
temperature of the gas?
56. A nebula—a region of the galaxy where new stars are forming—contains
a very tenuous gas with 100 atoms/cm3 . This gas is heated to 7500 K by
ultraviolet radiation from nearby stars. What is the gas pressure in atm?

57. On average, each person in the industrialized world is responsible for the
emission of 10,000 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) every year. This includes
CO2 that you generate directly, by burning fossil fuels to operate your
car or your furnace, as well as CO2 generated on your behalf by electric
generating stations and manufacturing plants. CO2 is a greenhouse gas
that contributes to global warming. If you were to store your yearly CO2
emissions in a cube at STP, how long would each edge of the cube be?
58. To determine the mass of neon contained in a rigid, 2.0 L cylinder, you
vary the cylinder’s temperature while recording the reading of a pressure
gauge. Your data are as follows:

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 Temperature (°C) Pressure gauge (atm)
100 6.52
150 7.80
200 8.83
250 9.59

Use the best-fit line of an appropriate graph to determine the mass of the
neon.
59. The 3.0-m-long pipe in Figure P18.50 is closed at the top end. It is
slowly pushed straight down into the water until the top end of the pipe is
level with the water’s surface. What is the length L of the trapped volume
of air?

60. A diving bell is a 3.0-m-tall cylinder closed at the upper end but open at
the lower end. The temperature of the air in the bell is 20°C. The bell is
lowered into the ocean until its lower end is 100 m deep. The temperature
at that depth is 10°C.

(a) How high does the water rise in the bell after enough time has passed
for the air inside to reach thermal equilibrium?
(b) A compressed-air hose from the surface is used to expel all the water
from the bell. What minimum air pressure is needed to do this?

61. An electric generating plant boils water to produce high-pressure steam.

The steam spins a turbine that is connected to the generator.
(a) How many liters of water must be boiled to fill a 5.0 m3 boiler with
50 atm of steam at 400°C?
(b) The steam has dropped to 2.0 atm pressure at 150°C as it exits the
turbine. How much volume does it now occupy?
62. On a cool morning, when the temperature is 15°C, you measure the pres-
sure in your car tires to be 30 psi. After driving 20 mi on the freeway, the
temperature of your tires is 45°C. What pressure will your tire gauge now
show?

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63. The air temperature and pressure in a laboratory are 20°C and 1.0 atm.
A 1.0 L container is open to the air. The container is then sealed and
placed in a bath of boiling water. After reaching thermal equilibrium, the
container is opened. How many moles of air escape?
64. 10,000 cm3 of 200°C steam at a pressure of 20 atm is cooled until it
condenses. What is the volume of the liquid water? Give your answer in
cm3 .
65. The mercury manometer shown in Figure P18.56 is attached to a gas
cell. The mercury height h is 120 mm when the cell is placed in an ice-
water mixture. The mercury height drops to 30 mm when the device is
carried into an industrial freezer. What is the freezer temperature? Hint:
The right tube of the manometer is much narrower than the left tube.
What reasonable assumption can you make about the gas volume?

66. The U-shaped tube in Figure P18.57 has a total length of 1.0 m. It is
open at one end, closed at the other, and is initially filled with air at 20°C
and 1.0 atm pressure. Mercury is poured slowly into the open end without
letting any air escape, thus compressing the air. This is continued until
the open side of the tube is completely filled with mercury. What is the
length L of the column of mercury?
67. The 50 kg circular piston shown in Figure P18.58 floats on 0.12 mol of
compressed air.
(a) What is the piston height h if the temperature is 30°C?
(b) How far does the piston move if the temperature is increased by
100°C?

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68. A diver 50 m deep in 10°C fresh water exhales a 1.0-cm-diameter bubble.
What is the bubble’s diameter just as it reaches the surface of the lake,
where the water temperature is 20°C? Hint: Assume that the air bubble
is always in thermal equilibrium with the surrounding water.
69. 8.0 g of helium gas follows the process 1 → 2 → 3 shown in Figure
P18.60. Find the values of V1 , V3 , p2 , and T3 .
70. Figure P18.61 shows two different processes by which 1.0 g of nitrogen
gas moves from state 1 to state 2. The temperature of state 1 is 25°C.
What are (a) pressure p1 and (b) temperatures (in °C) T2 , T3 , and T4 ?

71. Figure P18.62 shows two different processes by which 80 mol of gas move
from state 1 to state 2. The dashed line is an isotherm.
(a) What is the temperature of the isothermal process?
(b) What maximum temperature is reached along the straight-line pro-
cess?
72. 4.0 g of oxygen gas, starting at 820°C, follow the process 1 → 2 shown in
Figure P18.63. What is temperature T2 (in °C)?

73. 10 g of dry ice (solid CO2 ) is placed in a 10,000 cm3 container, then all
the air is quickly pumped out and the container sealed. The container is
warmed to 0°C, a temperature at which CO2 is a gas.
(a) What is the gas pressure? Give your answer in atm.
(b) The gas then undergoes an isothermal compression until the pressure
is 3.0 atm, immediately followed by an isobaric compression until the
volume is 1000 cm3 . What is the final temperature of the gas (in
°C)?

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 (c) Show the process on a pV diagram.
74. A container of gas at 2.0 atm pressure and 127°C is compressed at constant
temperature until the volume is halved. It is then further compressed at
constant pressure until the volume is halved again.

(a) What are the final pressure and temperature of the gas?
(b) Show this process on a pV diagram.
75. Five grams of nitrogen gas at an initial pressure of 3.0 atm and at 20°C
undergo an isobaric expansion until the volume has tripled.

(a) What is the gas volume after the expansion?

(b) What is the gas temperature after the expansion (in °C)?
The gas pressure is then decreased at constant volume until the original
temperature is reached.
(c) What is the gas pressure after the decrease?

Finally, the gas is isothermally compressed until it returns to its initial

volume.
(d) What is the final gas pressure?
(e) Show the full three-step process on a pV diagram. Use appropriate
scales on both axes.
76. In Problems 67 through 70 you are given the equation(s) used to solve a
problem. For each of these, you are to:
(a) Write a realistic problem for which this is the correct equation(s).
(b) Draw a pV diagram.
(c) Finish the solution of the problem.
300 cm3
67. p2 = 100 cm3 × 1 × 2 atm
200 kP a
68. (T2 + 273) K = 500 kP a × 1 × (400 + 273) K
(400+273) K
69. V2 = (50+273) K × 1 × 200 cm3
70.

(2.0 × 101, 300 P a)(100 × 10−6 m3 ) = n(8.31 J/molK)T1

0.12 g
n=
20 g/mol
200 cm3
T2 = × 1 × T1
100 cm3

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77. An inflated bicycle inner tube is 2.2 cm in diameter and 200 cm in cir-
cumference. A small leak causes the gauge pressure to decrease from 110
psi to 80 psi on a day when the temperature is 20°C. What mass of air is
lost? Assume the air is pure nitrogen.
78. The cylinder in Figure CP18.72 has a moveable piston attached to a
spring. The cylinder’s cross-section area is 10 cm2 , it contains 0.0040 mol
of gas, and the spring constant is 1500 N/m. At 20°C the spring is neither
compressed nor stretched. How far is the spring compressed if the gas
temperature is raised to 100°C?

79. Containers A and B in Figure CP18.73 hold the same gas. The volume
of B is four times the volume of A. The two containers are connected by
a thin tube (negligible volume) and a valve that is closed. The gas in A
is at 300 K and pressure of 1.0 × 105 Pa. The gas in B is at 400 K and
pressure of 5.0 × 105 Pa. Heaters will maintain the temperatures of A and
B even after the valve is opened. After the valve is opened, gas will flow
one way or the other until A and B have equal pressure. What is the final
pressure?
80. The closed cylinder of Figure CP18.74 has a tight-fitting but frictionless
piston of mass M . The piston is in equilibrium when the left chamber has
pressure p0 and length L0 while the spring on the right is compressed by
∆L.

(a) What is ∆L in terms of p0 , L0 , A, M , and k?

(b) Suppose the piston is moved a small distance x to the right. Find an
expression for the net force (Fx )net on the piston. Assume all motions
are slow enough for the gas to remain at the same temperature as its
surroundings.
(c) If released, the piston will oscillate around the equilibrium position.
Assuming x ≪ L0 , find an expression for the oscillation period T .
Hint: Use the binomial approximation.

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81. Avogadro’s law states that ‘equal volumes of all gases contain equal num-
bers of molecules at the same temperature and pressure’. Can we derive
this principle from the ideal gas law?
82. What is the absolute pressure of 50 g of neon gas kept in a 10 L vessel at
300 K? (MN e = 20 g/mole)
83. Show that one mole of any gas at STP (Standard Temperature and Pres-
sure) occupies a volume of 22.4 L.
84. What volume does 0.016 kg of oxygen gas occupy at 57 °C under 100 kPa
pressure? (MO2 = 32 g/mole)
85. What is the mass of air in an 80 m3 room at 20 °C and 1 atm of pressure?
Take the molar mass of air to be M = 29 g/mole.
86. A 20 L container holds gas at 350 K under 83.1 MPa (megapascals) pres-
sure. How many moles of gas are in the container?
87. Helium is contained in a vessel of volume 16.62 L at 227 °C under 30 atm
pressure. What is the mass of helium in the vessel if the molar mass of
helium is 0.004 kg/mole?
88. A gas of mass 16.8 g is used to fill a 24.93 L balloon at 227 °C. What is
the molar mass of the gas if the pressure is 100 kPa?
89. What is the mass of air in an air bubble of volume 8.31 cm3 at a depth of
20 m below the surface of water? The temperature at this depth is 7 °C.
(Take Mair = 29 g/mole, P0 = 100 kPa)
90. What is the density of nitrogen at 27 °C, under 1 atm pressure? (Take
MN2 = 0.028 kg/mole)
91. What is the final pressure of the gas, in units of atmospheres (atm), in the
combined system after the valve is opened? (Temperature is constant)

10Lcontainer : 2atm
5Lcontainer : 8atm

92. Suppose that equal masses of two different ideal gases are mixed in a closed
container. After a sufficiently long time, which of the following parameters
of the gases will be equal at the end, when equilibrium is attained?

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 • I. Total internal energy
• II. Average kinetic energy of molecules
• III. Volume
93. 30 g of neon and 10 g of helium are enclosed in a container of volume 20
L. If the temperature is 300 K, what is the pressure inside the container
in units of kPa? (Take MHe = 4 g/mole, MN e = 20 g/mole)
94. An open container holds 1.2 kg of gas. How much gas will flow out of the
container if the temperature increases from 300 K to 400 K?
95. The temperature of air in a 120 m3 room increases from 27 °C to 32 °C.
What mass of air leaves the room? (Take Mair = 0.029 kg/mole, P0 = 100
kPa)
96. At which point on the P-V graph in the figure is the gas temperature a
maximum?

97. An air bubble has a volume of 1 cm3 at a depth of 10 m, under the surface
of the water, in a lake whose temperature is 7◦ C. What is the volume
of the bubble near the surface, where the temperature is 17◦ C? Take
atmospheric pressure to be 1 atm.
98. A gas sample is enclosed in a vessel at 400 K, under 200 kP a pressure.
What will the pressure of the gas be if 40% of the gas is taken out, and
the temperature is decreased to 300 K?

99. One mole of air is confined in a cylinder by a movable piston having a

mass of 10 kg and an area of 10−3 m2 . Atmospheric pressure is 100 kP a.
The cylinder absorbs heat, such that its temperature increases by 20◦ C.
What is the displacement of the piston?

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