Re: adiabaticity and reversibility

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

See one of the URLs below. The demo we use has a large water bottle,
and I don't try to open and close the valve; I have a large hose into
the bottle which I open and close by clapping my hand over the end.
Speed is important (to the adiabaticity) and both the large bore hose
and the rapid valve action are important in this respect.

Leigh

http://ntserv.fys.ku.dk/finnberg/demonstra.htm
http://www.chemistry.mcmaster.ca/~allanle/cpcv2.gif
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~physics/labs/descriptions/adiabatic.html
http://www.physics.unc.edu/labs/demo/thermo/4B10.60.html

> > 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
> --
> Dr. Carl E. Mungan, Assistant Professor          http://uwf.edu/cmungan/
> Dept. of Physics, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL   32514-5751
> office: 850-474-2645 (secretary -2267, FAX -3323) email: cmungan@uwf.edu