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Back to 15.7 Statistical Interpretation of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics: The Underlying Explanation

15.7 Exercise 1

Avg difficulty 2.5

A piston is resting halfway into a cylinder containing gas in thermal equilibrium. The layer of molecules next to the closed end of the cylinder is suddenly flash-heated to a very high temperature. Which best describes what happens next?

  1. The high temperature molecules push out the piston until their energy is reduced enough that the system is in equilibrium.
  2. The molecules with the highest temperature bounce off their neighbors, losing energy to them, and so on until the system is at a new equilibrium with the piston moved out.
  3. The molecules with the highest temperature bounce off their neighbors, losing energy to them, and so on until the system is at a new equilibrium with the piston where it started.
  4. The high temperature molecules push out the piston until their energy is reduced enough that the system is in equilibrium, and then the piston gets sucked back in.

OpenStax College Physics 2e, 15.7 Statistical Interpretation of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics: The Underlying Explanation, exercise 1

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Adapted from College Physics © 2022 Rice University. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Sources: College Physics 2e, College Physics for AP® Courses 2e. Imported at revision f98d7a7.