Re: [Phys-l] Force on an accelerating piston

["Dan Crowe" <dcrowe@Loudoun.K12.VA.US>]

Let me rephrase the question to make my intention clearer:

If a rigid piston has mass, is the force that the gas exerts on the
piston while the piston is accelerating away from the gas less than the
force that the gas would exert on the piston if the piston was at rest?

Daniel Crowe
Loudoun Academy of Science
dcrowe@loudoun.k12.va.us
> > > dcrowe@Loudoun.K12.VA.US 12/31/06 10:29 AM >>>
I know that the case of a massless piston is unphysical.  It was this
unphysical case that started me thinking about the effect of
acceleration of the piston away from the gas on the force that the gas
exerts on the piston.  I'm really looking for the answer to the
following question: If a rigid piston has mass, would the force on it
during its acceleration away from the gas be less than if the piston was
at rest?

Daniel Crowe
Loudoun Academy of Science
dcrowe@loudoun.k12.va.us
> > > jsd@av8n.com 12/31/06 1:04 AM >>>
On 12/30/2006 10:26 PM, Dan Crowe wrote:

> massless piston.  The piston is supported by a linear (Hookean)
spring. 

The question is unphysical.
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