Question 13

NUMERICALMEDIUM

The left and right compartments of a thermally isolated container of length LL are separated by a thermally conducting, movable piston of area AA. The left and right compartments are filled with 32\frac{3}{2} and 1 moles of an ideal gas, respectively. In the left compartment the piston is attached by a spring with spring constant kk and natural length 2L5\frac{2L}{5}. In thermodynamic equilibrium, the piston is at a distance L2\frac{L}{2} from the left and right edges of the container as shown in the figure. Under the above conditions, if the pressure in the right compartment is P=kLAαP = \frac{kL}{A}\alpha, then the value of α\alpha is ____

Question
Correct Answer: 0.2

Detailed Solution

  1. Because the piston is thermally conducting, in equilibrium the temperatures are equal: TL=TR=TT_L = T_R = T.
  2. The piston is at L/2L/2, so the volumes are VL=A(L/2)V_L = A(L/2) and VR=A(L/2)V_R = A(L/2).
  3. Using the ideal gas law PV=nRTPV = nRT: PL=nLRTVL=(3/2)RTAL/2=3RTALP_L = \frac{n_L RT}{V_L} = \frac{(3/2)RT}{AL/2} = \frac{3RT}{AL} PR=nRRTVR=1â‹…RTAL/2=2RTALP_R = \frac{n_R RT}{V_R} = \frac{1 \cdot RT}{AL/2} = \frac{2RT}{AL}
  4. Relationship between pressures: PL=1.5PRP_L = 1.5 P_R.
  5. Force balance on the piston: PLA=PRA+FspringP_L A = P_R A + F_{spring}.
  6. The spring is compressed/extended by Δx=L/2−2L/5=L/10\Delta x = L/2 - 2L/5 = L/10. Thus Fspring=k(L/10)F_{spring} = k(L/10).
  7. Substituting values into the force balance equation: 1.5PRA=PRA+kL101.5 P_R A = P_R A + \frac{kL}{10} 0.5PRA=kL100.5 P_R A = \frac{kL}{10} PR=2kL10A=kLA(0.2)P_R = \frac{2kL}{10A} = \frac{kL}{A} (0.2)
  8. Comparing with P=kLAαP = \frac{kL}{A}\alpha, we find α=0.2\alpha = 0.2. Final Answer: 0.2
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