Which of the following processes is irreversible and leads to an increase in entropy?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
Which of the following processes is irreversible and leads to an increase in entropy?
Reversible isothermal expansion
Free expansion of gas
Isothermal compression
Adiabatic expansion
Free expansion of gas is an irreversible process that leads to an increase in entropy as the gas expands into a vacuum.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: Which of the following processes is irreversible and leads to an increase in entropy?
Solution: Free expansion of gas is an irreversible process that leads to an increase in entropy as the gas expands into a vacuum.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what an irreversible process is. An irreversible process is one that cannot be reversed to return to the original state without external influence.
Step 2: Learn about entropy. Entropy is a measure of disorder or randomness in a system. An increase in entropy means the system becomes more disordered.
Step 3: Identify the process in question. The free expansion of gas is when gas expands into a vacuum without doing work or exchanging heat.
Step 4: Recognize that during free expansion, the gas molecules spread out and occupy a larger volume, leading to more disorder.
Step 5: Conclude that since the free expansion of gas cannot be reversed and results in greater disorder, it is an irreversible process that increases entropy.
