Ideal gases A (red spheres) and B (blue spheres) occupy two separate bulbs. The contents of both bulbs constitute the initial state of an isolated system. Consider the process that occurs when the stopcock is opened.

(a) Sketch the final (equilibrium) state of the system.

Key Concepts

Ideal Gas Law

The Ideal Gas Law describes the relationship between pressure, volume, temperature, and the number of moles of an ideal gas. It is expressed as PV = nRT, where P is pressure, V is volume, n is the number of moles, R is the ideal gas constant, and T is temperature. This law helps predict how gases will behave under various conditions, particularly when they are allowed to mix or expand.

Equilibrium State

An equilibrium state in a system occurs when the concentrations of the gases become uniform throughout the available volume after the stopcock is opened. At this point, the rates of the forward and reverse processes (e.g., diffusion of gas A and gas B) are equal, resulting in no net change in the concentrations of the gases. Understanding this concept is crucial for predicting the final distribution of gases in the system.

Diffusion

Diffusion is the process by which gas molecules spread from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration. In the context of the question, when the stopcock is opened, gas A (yellow spheres) and gas B (green spheres) will diffuse into each other's space until they are evenly distributed. This process is driven by the random motion of gas particles and is essential for understanding how gases mix in an isolated system.