Chapter 4 Review Questions
Solutions can be found in Chapter 12.
4. An ideal gas is compressed isothermally from 20 m3
Section I: Multiple Choice to 10 m3. During this process, 5 J of work is done
to compress the gas. What is the change of internal
1. A container holds a mixture of two gases, CO2 and energy for this gas?
H2, in thermal equilibrium. Let KC and KH denote the (A) –10 J
average kinetic energy of a CO2 molecule and an H2 (B) –5 J
molecule, respectively. Given that a molecule of CO2 (C) 0J
has 22 times the mass of a molecule of H2, the ratio (D) 5J
KC/ KH is equal to
(A) 1/22 5. An ideal gas is confined to a container whose volume
(B) 1 is fixed. If the container holds n moles of gas, by
(C) 22 what factor will the pressure increase if the absolute
(D) 22 temperature is increased by a factor of 2 ?
(A) 2/(nR)
(B) 2
2. If the temperature and volume of a sample of an ideal
(C) 2nR
gas are both doubled, then the pressure
(D) 2/n
(A) decreases by a factor of 2
(B) increases by a factor of 2
(C) increases by a factor of 4 6. Two large glass containers of equal volume each hold
(D) remains unchanged 1 mole of gas. Container 1 is filled with hydrogen gas
(2 g/mol), and Container 2 holds helium (4 g/mol). If
the pressure of the gas in Container 1 equals the pres-
3. In three separate experiments, a gas is transformed sure of the gas in Container 2, which of the following
from state Pi , Vi to state Pf , Vf along the paths is true?
(1, 2, and 3) illustrated in the figure below:
(A) The temperature of the gas in Container 1 is
P lower than the temperature of the gas in
Container 2.
Pi
1 (B) The temperature of the gas in Container 1 is
2
greater than the temperature of the gas in
Pf 3
Container 2.
(C) The rms speed of the gas molecules in Container
V 1 is lower than the rms speed of the gas
Vf Vi molecules in Container 2.
(D) The rms speed of the gas molecules in Container
The work done on the gas is 1 is greater than the rms speed of the gas
(A) greatest for path 1 molecules in Container 2.
(B) least for path 2
(C) greatest for path 2 7. Through a series of thermodynamic processes, the in-
(D) the same for all three paths ternal energy of a sample of confined gas is increased
by 560 J. If the net amount of work done on the
sample by its surroundings is 320 J, how much heat
was transferred between the gas and its environment?
(A) 240 J absorbed
(B) 240 J dissipated
(C) 880 J absorbed
(D) 880 J dissipated
Thermal Physics | 1 0 1
8. What’s the total work performed on the gas as it’s 10. A cup of hot coffee is sealed inside a perfectly ther-
transformed from state a to state c, along the path mally insulating container. A long time is allowed to
indicated? pass. Which of the following correctly explains the
final thermal configuration within the box?
5
P (×10 Pa)
(A) The coffee has not changed temperature because
c b the box is perfectly insulating.
3.0
(B) The coffee has gotten warmer and the air in the
box has gotten cooler because of an exchange
of thermal energy between the air and the
coffee.
1.0 a (C) The coffee has gotten cooler and the air in
the box has gotten warmer because of an
3
V (×10 m )
3 exchange of thermal energy between the air
10 25 and the coffee.
(D) The coffee has gotten cooler but the air in the
(A) 1,500 J box has not changed its temperature. The
(B) 3,000 J energy from the coffee has caused an increase
(C) 4,500 J in entropy within the box.
(D) 9,500 J
9. In one of the steps of the Carnot cycle, the gas under-
goes an isothermal expansion. Which of the following
statements is true concerning this step?
(A) No heat is exchanged between the gas and
its surroundings, because the process is
isothermal.
(B) The temperature decreases because the gas
expands.
(C) The internal energy of the gas remains constant.
(D) The internal energy of the gas decreases due to
the expansion.
1 0 2 | Cracking the AP Physics 2 Exam
Section II: Free Response
1. When a system is taken from state a to state b along the path acb shown in the figure below, 70 J of heat flows into the
system, and the system does 30 J of work.
P
c b
a d
(a) When the system is returned from state b to state a along the curved path shown, 60 J of heat flows out of the
system. Does the system perform work on its surroundings or do the surroundings perform work on the system?
How much work is done?
(b) If the system does 10 J of work in transforming from state a to state b along path adb, does the system absorb or
does it emit heat? How much heat is transferred?
(c) If Ua = 0 J and Ud = 30 J, determine the heat absorbed in the processes db and ad.
(d) For the process adbca, identify each of the following quantities as positive, negative, or zero:
W = ________________ Q =_______________ ∆U = _________________
Thermal Physics | 1 0 3
2. A 0.4 mol sample of an ideal diatomic gas undergoes slow changes from state a to state b to state c and back to a along
the cycle shown in the P–V diagram below:
P (×105 Pa)
2.4 a
0.6 c b
V (×10 3 m3)
12 48
Path ab is an isotherm, and it can be shown that the work done by the gas as it changes isothermally from state a to
state b is given by the equation
Vb
Wab –nRT ×ln
Va
The molar heat capacities for the gas are CV = 20.8 J/mol∙K and CP = 29.1 J/mol∙K.
(a) What’s the temperature of
(i) state a?
(ii) state b?
(iii) state c?
(b) Determine the change in the internal energy of the gas for
(i) step ab
(ii) step bc
(iii) step ca
(c) How much work, Wab , is done by the gas during step ab?
(d) What is the total work done over cycle abca?
(e) (i) Is heat absorbed or discarded during step ab?
(ii) If so, how much?
(f) What is the maximum possible efficiency (without violating the Second Law of Thermodynamics) for a cyclical
heat engine that operates between the temperatures of states a and c?
1 0 4 | Cracking the AP Physics 2 Exam
