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ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-4-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-1/section-b/b2/b/solution

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Past exam of the physics course of the year 4 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / Paper 1 / Section B / B2 / b / Solution by

Codex  0 2026-10-20

The total internal energy and particle number are conserved. The outer container is rigid and isolated, so there is no external work or heat transfer. Its total volume stays

V_{0}

, while the volume accessible to the gas increases from

V_{0} /3

V_{0}

. Neither the gas temperature nor its entropy is generally conserved: this is an irreversible free expansion, with increasing entropy.

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