A well-insulated rigid tank is divided into part A and part B through a partition.

Initially, side A of the

tank contains 0.5m3 air at 6bar and 400K, and the other side B is filled with 0.2 m3 air at 12bar and
500K. The partition is then removed, and the air mixes within the entire tank. Determine the final
temperature of air.

Here the air is assumed to be ideal gas.

The specific gas constant for air is Rair=287 J/kg K and the specific heat capacity at constant pressure
cp=1 J/g K

Side A Side B P2=?

VA=0.5m3 VB=0.2m3 T2=?
pA=6bar PB=12bar
TA=400K TB=500K

Solution:

We first calculate the mass of air in each side of tank:

6 10 0.5
2.613
287 / 400

12 10 0.2
1.672
287 / 500

Since tank is rigid and its volume remains constant, there is no work for volume change. In addition,
there is no other kind of work such as electrical work involves. ® W=0

As the tank is well-insulated (adiabatic), no heat transfer occurs. ® Q=0

According to the 1.Law of thermodynamics for closed system, the equation reduces to Usys=0, that is,
UA+ UB=0.

Because the air is considered as ideal gas and we assume the final temperature T2:

UA=mA cv (T2 – TA) and UB=mB cv (T2 – TB)

Therefore: UA+ UB= mA cv (T2 – TA)+ mB cv (T2 – TB)=0

2.613 400 1.672 500

439.02
2.613 1.672
Now we calculate the final pressure p2 after removing the partition:

2.613 1.672 287 / 439.02

7.713
0.5 0.2

Since entropy is the property of state, we can calculate the entropy change of this system separately.
That means,

Ssys= SA+ SB

where

 SA is the entropy change of air in side A

 SB is the entropy change of air in side B

D € •‚ ƒ •‚ „
439.02 7.713
2.613 1 10 / •‚ ƒ 287 / •‚ „
400 6
54.88 /

D € •‚ ƒ •‚ „
439.02 7.713
1.672 1 10 / •‚ ƒ 287 / •‚ „
500 12
ƒ5.366 /

D D D 54.88 / ƒ 5.366 / 49.514 /

We notice that S >0. That means, this process is irreversible which follows the 2.Law of
thermodynamics.