How do you find q for isothermal processes?
1 Answer
Jul 24, 2016
In isothermal processes, we know that by definition, the temperature is constant.
The internal energy
#cancel(DeltaU)^(0) = q + w#
And we just get:
#color(blue)(-q = w = -PDeltaV)# where:
#q# is the heat flow in#"J"# .#w# is the expansion/compression work in#"J"# .#DeltaV# is the change in volume in#"L"# . Note that#"8.314472 J"/("0.083145 L"cdot"bar")# is a convenient conversion unit.#P# is a single pressure. It tends to be in#"bar"# or#"atm"# .If
#"atm"# , you use#"8.314472 J"/("0.082057 L"cdot"atm")# for the conversion unit.