- #1
kmarinas86
- 979
- 1
I figure that it is possible for temperature to decline in a fixed volume system that is thermally insulated. The reason why is that, from what I understand, is that random kinetic energy may have angular momentum. If we were to subject a volume of such energy to a rotating force (torque), then we should be able to de-randomize the rotational kinetic energy and induce a rotation of mass in that volume. That mass should have a lower barometric (static) pressure, but also it would have a higher dynamic pressure associated with the centripetal force on the gas (imposed by the forces which create the volume constraint). From what I understand, the P in PV=nRT applies only to BAROMETRIC or static pressure. Is this correct? Can an object really get colder doing neither "adiabatic work" nor dispersing thermal energy as heat to a colder reservoir? Or is this cooling effect exactly negated by the rotational work done on the system to induce the rotational alignment? Personally, I suspect that there is some mathematical argument which can show the latter to be wrong.
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