Details For An Ideal Gas
For the special case of a gas to which Boyle's law applies, the product pV is a constant if the gas is kept at isothermal conditions. However the cases where the product pv is an exponential term this does not comply. The value of the constant is nRT, where n is the number of moles of gas present and R is the ideal gas constant. In other words, the ideal gas law pV = nRT applies. This means that
holds. The family of curves generated by this equation is shown in the graph presented at the bottom right-hand of the page. Each curve is called an isotherm. Such graphs are termed indicator diagrams and were first used by James Watt and others to monitor the efficiency of engines. The temperature corresponding to each curve in the figure increases from the lower left to the upper right.
Read more about this topic: Isothermal Process
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