Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/paper-1/section-a/a5/solution

For a reversible adiabatic process, an ideal gas obeys . A monatomic gas has heat capacity ratio . Taking the stated expansion factor to mean ,
This assumes the usual quasistatic isentropic process. Heat insulation alone does not determine the final temperature: an ideal-gas free expansion is also adiabatic but leaves the temperature unchanged. The numerical answer uses nine times the original volume, the conventional intended meaning of the source's “nine times larger”.

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