Question

Calculate the work associated with the compression of a gas from 121.0 L to 80.0 L at a constant pressure of 16.7 atm.

Answer 1

Answer:

6.94 × 10⁴ J

Explanation:

We can calculate the work (W) associated with the compression of a gas at constant pressure using the following expression:

W = -P . ΔV

where,

P is the external pressure

ΔV is the change in the volume

Knowing that 1 atm.L = 101.325 J, the work of compression is:

$W=-P\times \Delta V=-16.7atm\times(80.0L-121.0L)\times\frac{101.325J}{1atm.L} =6.94\times10^{4} J$

The positive sign of the work means that the surroundings do work on the system.