Quick, easy question for a physical chemist. When a gas is allowed to expand adiabatically and reversably, does the temperature increase or decrease with the drop in pressure? Or does it depend on the nature of the gas?

One Response to “Physical Chemistry -> adiabatic expansion of a gas increases or decrerases the temperature?”

1. Flying Dragon on January 7th, 2009 1:51 am

   Adiabatic means no heat enters or leaves the system, so expanding the gas without adding heat will cause a drop in temperature.

   It is a little easier to see the opposite in real life. When you use a bycicle pump to pump up something fairly large (like a car tire) the pump will get quite warm from the compression of the air.

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