Thanks everybody. Anybody else? Remember, please no peeking. Your efforts have already helped me identify an ambiguity in how I stated the problem. Here is an edited version. See if that clarification changes any answers. Remember, no peeking before you kick in your answers. No herding allowed.
Side by side, butt-to-butt, two cylinders of air, of equal volume and equal temperature, but different histories. They are separated by a frictionless sliding divider which is now pegged. Before compression or heating, both started with air at 10 degrees C, and after compression or heating, both arrive at 20 degrees C. The left one has arrived at its present temperature and volume by being compressed, the right-hand one by having its volume set to the same value as the left, BEFORE BEING FILLED WITH AIR AT 20 DEGREES C, and ONLY then having contents heated. All compartments insulated, all manipulations quasi-static. Now, remove the peg, allowing the partition between the two parts to slide, one way or the other. Which way would it slide and why. What would your explanation be? Please don't read others' answers until you have submitted your own. This is enormously helpful to me. On Tue, May 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM Pieter Steenekamp < [email protected]> wrote: > Assuming the pressures were equal at the start, it will slide from the > left (having been compressed) to the right. > From the ideal gas law PV = nRT, both have equal nRT;s so the one with > smaller V must have higher P and it would then push to the right. > > On Wed, 28 May 2025 at 04:59, Nicholas Thompson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Side by side, butt-to-butt, two cylinders of air, of equal volume and >> equal temperature, but different histories. They are separated by a >> frictionless sliding divider which is now pegged. Before compression or >> heating, both started with air at 10 degrees C, and after compression or >> heating, both arrive at 20 degrees C. The left one has arrived at its >> present temperature and volume by being compressed, the right-hand one >> by having its volume set to the same value as the left and then having >> contents heated. All compartments insulated, all manipulations >> quasi-static. Now, remove the peg, allowing the partition between the two >> parts to slide, one way or the other. Which way would it slide and why. >> What would your explanation be? Please don't read others' answers until >> you have submitted your own. >> -- >> Nicholas S. Thompson >> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology >> Clark University >> [email protected] >> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson >> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / >> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom >> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam >> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >> archives: 5/2017 thru present >> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ >> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >> > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > -- Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology Clark University [email protected] https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
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