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

The 50 kg circular piston shown in FIGURE P18.57 floats on 0.12 mol of compressed air. a. What is the piston height h if the temperature is 30°C?

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1
Identify the given values: mass of the piston (m = 50 kg), amount of air (n = 0.12 mol), and temperature (T = 30°C which converts to 303 K using T(K) = T(°C) + 273).
Understand that the air beneath the piston behaves as an ideal gas. Use the ideal gas law equation, PV = nRT, where P is the pressure, V is the volume, n is the number of moles, R is the gas constant (approximately 8.314 J/(mol·K)), and T is the temperature in Kelvin.
Recognize that the pressure exerted by the air (P) is equal to the weight of the piston divided by the area of the piston (A), i.e., P = mg/A, where g is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately 9.81 m/s²).
Express the volume of the gas (V) in terms of the piston's height (h) and its cross-sectional area (A), i.e., V = Ah. Substitute this expression for V into the ideal gas law equation.
Solve the modified ideal gas law equation for h, the height of the piston, by isolating h on one side of the equation. This will involve substituting the expression for P from step 3 and solving for h.

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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. Here, P is pressure, V is volume, n is the number of moles, R is the ideal gas constant, and T is the temperature in Kelvin. This law is essential for determining the behavior of gases under varying conditions, such as the compressed air in the piston.
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Hydrostatic Pressure

Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure exerted by a fluid at equilibrium due to the force of gravity. It is calculated using the formula P = ρgh, where ρ is the fluid density, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the height of the fluid column. Understanding hydrostatic pressure is crucial for analyzing the forces acting on the piston and determining its height.
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Thermodynamic Principles

Thermodynamics is the study of energy transfer and the laws governing heat and work. In this context, the temperature of the gas affects its pressure and volume, influencing the piston’s behavior. The principles of thermodynamics help in understanding how the compressed air's temperature at 30°C impacts the system's overall equilibrium and the resulting height of the piston.
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Related Practice
Textbook Question
A surveyor has a steel measuring tape that is calibrated to be 100.000 m long (i.e., accurate to ±1 mm) at 20°C. If she measures the distance between two stakes to be 65.175 m on a 3°C day, does she need to add or subtract a correction factor to get the true distance? How large, in mm, is the correction factor?
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Textbook Question
The interior of a Boeing 737-800 can be modeled as a 32-m-long, 3.7-m-diameter cylinder. The air inside, at cruising altitude, is 20°C at a pressure of 82 kPa. What volume of outside air, at −40°C and a pressure of 23 kPa, must be drawn in, heated, and compressed to fill the plane?
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Textbook Question
Common outdoor thermometers are filled with red-colored ethyl alcohol. One thermometer has a 0.40-mm-diameter capillary tube attached to a 9.0-mm-diameter spherical bulb. On a 0°C morning, the column of alcohol stands 30 mm above the bulb. What is the temperature in °C when the column of alcohol stands 130 mm above the bulb? The expansion of the glass is much less than that of the alcohol and can be ignored.
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Textbook Question
The 50 kg circular piston shown in FIGURE P18.57 floats on 0.12 mol of compressed air. b. How far does the piston move if the temperature is increased by 100°C?
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Textbook Question
The cylinder in FIGURE CP18.73 has a moveable piston attached to a spring. The cylinder's cross-section area is 10 cm^2, it contains 0.0040 mol of gas, and the spring constant is 1500 N/m. At 20°C the spring is neither compressed nor stretched. How far is the spring compressed if the gas temperature is raised to 100°C?
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Textbook Question
The closed cylinder of FIGURE CP18.74 has a tight-fitting but frictionless piston of mass M. The piston is in equilibrium when the left chamber has pressure p₀ and length L₀ while the spring on the right is compressed by ΔL. b. Suppose the piston is moved a small distance x to the right. Find an expression for the net force (Fₓ)net on the piston. Assume all motions are slow enough for the gas to remain at the same temperature as its surroundings.
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