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Ch 18: A Macroscopic Description of Matter
Chapter 18, Problem 18

10 g of dry ice (solid CO₂) is placed in a 10,000 cm^3 container, then all the air is quickly pumped out and the container sealed. The container is warmed to 0°C, a temperature at which CO₂ is a gas. a. What is the gas pressure? Give your answer in atm. The gas then undergoes an isothermal compression until the pressure is 3.0 atm, immediately followed by an isobaric compression until the volume is 1000 cm^3.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Ideal Gas Law

The Ideal Gas Law relates the pressure, volume, temperature, and number of moles of a gas through the equation PV = nRT. This law is essential for understanding the behavior of gases under various conditions, allowing us to calculate the pressure of CO₂ in the container when it is warmed to 0°C.
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Isothermal Process

An isothermal process occurs when a gas expands or compresses at a constant temperature. During this process, the internal energy of the gas remains unchanged, and any work done on or by the gas is balanced by heat exchange with the surroundings. This concept is crucial for understanding how the gas pressure changes during the isothermal compression phase described in the question.
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Isobaric Process

An isobaric process is one in which the pressure remains constant while the volume and temperature of the gas change. In this scenario, as the gas undergoes isobaric compression, the volume decreases while the pressure stays at 3.0 atm. Understanding this concept helps in analyzing how the gas behaves when the volume is reduced to 1000 cm³.
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