PHY 3417 Winter 2008: Assignment 2

Due Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008

Late assignments will receive substantial penalties, amounting to 1/3 of the total grade if handed in one
lecture late, or 2/3 of the total grade if handed in two lectures late. Generally, I will only be on campus on
Tuesdays or Thursday to receive assignments. Assignments handed in more than two lectures late without
prior notice will, in general, not be marked. Please inquire about any questions that are unclear to
you.
1. The equation of state for radiant energy in a cavity of volume V , in equilibrium with its walls at
temperature T , is P = aT 4 /3, where a is a constant. The internal energy is U = aT 4 V .
(a) Show that the heat supplied in an isothermal doubling of the volume of the cavity is (4/3) aT 4 V .
(b) Show that in an adiabatic process, V T 3 is constant.
2. The specific internal energy u of a van der Waals gas with equation of state

a
P + 2 (v b) = RT
v
is given by

a
where u0 ,a are constants.
u = u 0 + cv T ,
v
(a) Find an expression for the Joule coefficient = (T /v)u . Show that = 0 if a = 0.
(b) Find an expression for the specific enthalpy h as a function of v and T .
(c) Show that the Joule-Thomson coefficient = (T /P )h can be written as
=

RT v
v

cP (v b) cP

(d) Calculate the isothermal compressibility

=

1
v

v
P

for the van der Waals gas.

(e) Show that if a = b = 0 (ideal gas), then = v/(RT ) and = 0.
3. Find an integrating factor and integrate dw = dz, where
dz = (y cos3 x 1) dx + sin x cos2 x dy