Re: adiabaticity and reversibility

[Andy Piacsek <piacsek@TAHOMA.CWU.EDU>]

> > This reminds me of one of my favorite demonstrations. How many of you
> > do the Clement-Desormes experiment to measure the ratio of specific
> > heats in a gas? I always do this as a lecture demonstration when I
> > teach thermodynamics. It really works very well when one learns to
> > perform the expansion in a manner which justifies the adiabatic
> > approximation.
> >
> > Leigh
>
> I've either forgotten (most likely) or never seen this experiment.
> Can you give a quick rundown of how to do it in practical terms or
> provide a reference? For that matter, what other thermo demos do you
> often do? I'm teaching thermo this semester for the first time so
> would be very very glad for any suggestions. Carl


I am also teaching thermodynamics for the first time, and would love
to hear ideas for lecture demonstrations.

Since this topic has probably been covered before, the info Carl and
I are looking for is likely buried in the archives.  Being new to
the list, I'd appreciate some tips for how to effectively search the
PHYS-L archives.

Andy



                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


        Dr. Andrew A. Piacsek                 voice: 509-963-2723
        Assistant Professor
        Department of Physics                 fax:   509-963-2728
        Central Washington University
        Ellensburg, WA  98926                 piacsek@tahoma.cwu.edu