Take an isothermal hydrostatic reference atmosphere, , and linearize about rest. The horizontal acceleration and pressure-gradient force retain the equatorial Coriolis parameter , with . The traditional approximation retains only its vertical component. Quadratic perturbation advection is neglected. The vertical acceleration is balanced by perturbation buoyancy and pressure gradient after removing the reference hydrostatic balance.
The continuity constraint is the anelastic approximation, , giving . It retains stratification-driven expansion while filtering acoustic density fluctuations. It is therefore not the full compressible continuity equation. Adiabatic displacement in a stably stratified background gives , with the Brunt–Väisälä frequency; upward displacement develops restoring negative buoyancy.
Pressure convention matters. With the entropy-buoyancy equation just described, a consistent reduced-pressure form writes the pressure acceleration as , where . Its vertical term is , not simply . The original source explicitly specifies variable but prints the latter. Those differ by , so the two cannot silently be equated. Parts b and c display the consequence and then solve the explicitly corrected reduced-pressure model that yields the requested wave equation. This is a mathematical inconsistency in the printed set, not missing source material.
Use the Gibbs-Duhem equation for a homogeneous, extensive, single-component thermodynamic phase:At fixed temperature, this becomes , with number density . Separately, at fixed particle number,The chain rule along the same isothermal process in the equation of state now givesConsequentlyThis is isothermal compressibility from chemical-potential response. Since chemical potential has units of energy per particle, the right-hand side has units of volume per energy, or , as required. The derivation assumes a smooth bulk equation of state; changing the fractions of coexisting thermodynamic phases at fixed pressure needs separate treatment.
A state function is determined by the equilibrium state, rather than the path used to reach it. Its differential is exact and its change around a closed thermodynamic cycle is zero. Internal energy, entropy and enthalpy are examples; transferred heat and work are not state functions.
For slow expansion in contact with a large thermal reservoir, the fixed temperature of that reservoir maintains an isothermal process. For a fixed amount of ideal gas, internal energy and enthalpy depend only on temperature, soThe ideal gas law also gives . For a reversible expansion the absorbed heat equals the work done by the gas, while its entropy increases by ; constant internal energy does not mean zero heat transfer.
In the one-mole Van der Waals equation, represents excluded volume: the volume available to molecular motion is , rather than . Subtracting in the denominator therefore increases the repulsive contribution to pressure. The term represents intermolecular attraction, which reduces the outward momentum flux at a wall and hence appears as the negative correction . The two minus signs do not mean that both physical effects lower pressure.
For a reversible isothermal process along a homogeneous gas branch with , the work done by the gas isTo find the internal energy change without guessing a caloric law, combine with the Helmholtz free energy Maxwell relation . This givesThereforeThe attractive contribution becomes less negative as the gas expands: separating attracting particles requires energy. This differs from the ideal gas result at fixed temperature. The required heat is . Below the critical temperature, an equilibrium path crossing a liquid–gas coexistence region needs the equilibrium coexistence construction rather than the unstable homogeneous Van der Waals isotherm.
Rüchardt experiment Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-25
The Rüchardt experiment infers heat capacity ratio from the period of an oscillation of a piston supported by trapped gas. Use a vertical precision cylinder with a close-fitting movable piston, known moving mass , face area , trapped equilibrium volume , and local atmospheric pressure . With negligible static friction, force balance gives the absolute gas pressure , where is gravitational acceleration. Displace the piston slightly and release it: compression raises pressure, and expansion lowers it, producing a restoring force. The oscillation is a mechanical probe of thermal response, without separately measuring two heat inputs. [ref]
https://groups.ist.utl.pt/wwwelab/wiki/index.php?title=Determination_of_the_Adiabatic_Constant. Instituto Superior Técnico e-lab, Determination of the Adiabatic Constant: piston apparatus and period model
Let be upward displacement from equilibrium, so . For constant heat capacity ratio and a reversible adiabatic process, the net upward force, including the ambient load and weight, isThe linear approximation requires . Applying Newton's second law gives simple harmonic motion withHere is the undamped angular frequency and the undamped oscillation period, rather than temperature. Record repeated cycles, measure independently, and include all connected trapped volume. An illustrative model with , , , , and gives and . These stipulated values are not measurements.
In Shearwood and Sloan's implementation, piston-mounted magnets induce an electromotive force in a stationary coil through Faraday's law of induction; an oscilloscope records the signal. They observed faster oscillations at smaller trapped volume values and stronger damping at small cylinder volume values. The signal tracks velocity locally, so its amplitude is not directly piston displacement. Calibration also identified inlet dead space beyond the graduated cylinder volume. [ref]
https://arxiv.org/html/2209.03323v1. Chris Shearwood and Peter A. Sloan, The Rüchardt experiment revisited, §§3–4: signal, dead volume and observations
Repeat at smaller initial amplitudes to test the linear approximation, and compare several values. Heat transfer weakens the restoring force toward the isothermal process limit, biasing the inference toward . Check leakage through resting-piston drift and before-and-after trapped volume readings. For viscous damping with envelope , the measured angular frequency obeys ; this correction does not remove thermal leakage. Internal equilibration must be faster than an oscillation period, with heat transfer and leakage slow over a run. Large amplitude or sticking friction require a richer model. [ref]
