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I would like to know the main reason why a propane tank cools when it
is used. When I look online, I typically find one of four
explanations:
1a. Adiabatic cooling
1b. That is, the gas that remains inside is colder because it does work
pushing the rest of the gas out.
2a. Evaporative cooling.
2b. That is, removing the gas lowers the pressure and the liquid
propane boils as a result, leading to evaporative cooling.
3a. Joule-Thomson cooling
3b. That is, the expanding gas must work against the attractive force
between the propane molecules.
4a. Colder molecules "left behind"
4b. That is, the faster molecules are more likely to leave, and so
the slower and cooler molecules remain behind.