Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/paper-2/section-c/c12/pressures-in-heated-connected-vessels/solution
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2017 Paper 2 Section C C12 Pressures in heated connected vessels Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Denote the heated and cold vessels by subscripts . For argon, the opposing effusive particle rates are equal in the steady state:Because and ,This is thermal transpiration in the free-molecular limit. It fixes a ratio; the initial conditions determine the absolute pressures.
For the stated two identical vessels, take their fixed volume to be and the combined system sealed. Initially it contains atoms. HenceLet . Combining this inventory with gives the closed-vessel thermal transpiration resultHeating makes the hot side less dense but at higher pressure. Both expressions reduce to when . For a small imposed temperature rise , the pressure difference starts as .
If instead the cold vessel is interpreted as an externally maintained pressure reservoir with , the answer becomes . That alternative requires the fixed-pressure reservoir assumption; it does not conserve the initial particle inventory of two sealed equal-volume vessels. Merely describing the vessels as large does not keep their pressures fixed through the redistribution. The pressures in the boxed answer assume the natural closed-vessel interpretation.
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