Problem Set 2

Due date: Wednesday 6, September 2017

Only the problems with a Bunsen burner have to be turned in to be graded.

1. Determine the amount of work in Joules for the following processes assuming ideal gas behavior:
a) One mol of an ideal gas at 298.15 K is expanded reversibly and isothermally from 1.0 L to 15.0 L.
b) One mol of ideal gas is expanded irreversibly from 1.0 L to 15.0 L against a constant external
pressure of 1.0 atm.
c) One mol of ideal gas is expanded irreversibly from 1.0 L to 15.0 L against vacuum.


2. Two moles of an ideal gas initially at 45C is expanded reversibly at constant pressure from 2.0 L to
3.2 L. Determine the amount of work done in Joules.


3. Determine the amount of work in Joules for the following processes assuming ideal gas behavior:
a) Half a mole of nitrogen gas at 25C and 1.0 bar is expanded reversibly and isothermally to a
pressure of 0.245 bar.
b) Determine the work done when one mole of nitrogen gas at 50C and 0.5 bar is expanded
isothermally against a constant external pressure of 0.415 bar.


4. A quantity of 2.00 g of calcium carbide is reacted at 500.0 K with excess of liquid water in a closed
container fitted with a piston. The only two products of this reaction are ethyne and calcium hydroxide.
Calculate the work done by the production of C2H2 gas against an external pressure (atmospheric
pressure). Assume that the reaction proceeds until the pressure of the gas produced equals the external
pressure.


5. A strip of magnesium of mass 15 g is dropped into a beaker of dilute hydrochloric acid. Calculate the
work done by the system as a result of the reaction. Assume all the available magnesium reacts and
ideal gas behavior. The atmospheric pressure is 1.0 atm and the temperature 25C

6. One mole of methane expands reversibly from 1.0 to 25.0 L at 15.0 C. Calculate the work done in
Joules assuming:
a) the gas obeys the ideal gas equation of state.
b) the gas obeys the van der Waals equation of state. The van der Waals parameters for methane
are a=2.3030 dm6.bar/mol2 b=0.0431 dm3/mol.


7. Three moles of O2 gas, initially at 25.0 C, are expanded at constant volume from 1.0 to 0.1 atm.
Determine:
a) the volume of the system.
b) the work done in Joules.


8. Derive an expression for the work done by:
a) a reversible isothermal expansion from V1 to V2 of a van der Waals gas.
b) a reversible isothermal expansion from V1 to V2 done by a gas that obeys the following equation of
state:

($ ) =

where b is a constant.


9. In maximum one line and without using formulas state the 1st law of thermodynamics.


10. In maximum two lines and without using formulas define work in thermodynamics.