- #1
etotheipi
I was just reading a set of thermodynamics lecture notes and came across the following
In most thermodynamics problems I have done, it is indeed assumed that the piston does not accelerate so we can simply equate forces on the piston. However, I don't fully understand the line of reasoning given above.
For instance, if the pressure of the gas inside a frictionless piston far exceeds that of the external gas, surely it would be detrimental to ignore the acceleration?
In most thermodynamics problems I have done, it is indeed assumed that the piston does not accelerate so we can simply equate forces on the piston. However, I don't fully understand the line of reasoning given above.
For instance, if the pressure of the gas inside a frictionless piston far exceeds that of the external gas, surely it would be detrimental to ignore the acceleration?