Expansion of a Gas into a Vacuum

AI Thread Summary
When a stop-cock connecting an evacuated flask to the atmosphere is opened, air enters at 1 atm and 17°C. The temperature of the air in the flask before any heat transfer occurs is calculated to be 132 °C (405 K). The discussion revolves around the enthalpy change and the assumptions made regarding the process, with one participant considering it as a throttling question. There's confusion about defining enthalpy for each state and the work done by the gas. Ultimately, the problem is identified as a free expansion of an ideal gas, suggesting that the temperature remains constant during the process.
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Homework Statement


A stop-cock which connects an evacuated flask with the atmosphere is opened and
air at 1 atm and 17°C (290 K) enters. (a) What will be the temperature of the air in the flask
before any heat has been transferred to the walls of the flask? Assume air to be a perfect
gas and its molal heat capacity at constant pressure to be 7.00 calories per degree.
Answer=132 °C (405 K)

2. The attempt at a solution

I started working on this under the assumption that it was a throttling question with constant enthalpy:
H2-H1=0
but I'm stuck at the point where you define enthalpy for each state. You can define the work done by the gas as:
w=int(Cv dT,T,290,T2) where Cv=Cp-R (Cp=7 cal/K;Cv=5.013 cal/K)

Any ideas on where to go?
 
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Sounds like a free expansion of an ideal gas problem so the temperature change will be zero, i.e. the final temp is the same as the initial temp.

CS
 

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