Re: [Phys-l] Temp & Energy density

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

Donald Smith wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Isn't the volume in question the volume occupied by the gas, not the volume of
> the chamber?  As others have said, by having just a few molecules, you're not in
> a thermodynamic situation any more, and these two concepts are no longer the
> same thing.  By moving the piston when no molecules are hitting it, you are not
> changing the volume of space occupied by the gas.   Ultimately, I agree with the
> other posters -- you're applying macroscopic concepts like pressure, temperature
> and volume to a system where they don't apply.  Hence, the paradoxes.
>
> Yours,
>   
It will not be the first time that people have tortured themselves with 
conditions
that seem almost plausible... but how long  would a piston take to move as
specified without touching a molecule  if just ONE molecule were 
contained in
a container of dimensions ~ 0.1 meter at room temperature? 
If one could not move quite that fast, how much kinetic energy
would be gained by just one collision with a piston?
Would you count this as a static or equilibrium collision??

Brian W