Gas Expansion Inside a Circle Please click below for a full description of this subject Here the gas expands because an external force moves a circular membrane so that the gas can occupy a larger area. This means that the gas atoms give up energy to circular membrane but we will assume here that membrane temperature does not increase. The black curve shows the energy variation as the membrane expands. The smooth blue curve shows an estimate of energy as a function of the radius of the membrane. An expression for the blue curve that fits reasonably well is E/E0=(r0/r)^3 where r0 is the initial membrane radius and r is its present radius. The learner may (within limits) use the Sliders to change the following variables: 1. Initial average speed of discs 2. Radius of discs 3. Total Number of discs 4. Radial Expansion Speed 5. Final expansion ratio 6. Gas equilibration time before starting expansion
Click for more info rad vx rate nA spd tEq