Why Does RMS Velocity Increase During Adiabatic Compression?

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rms velocity and compression. Please help!

Homework Statement



Explain why the rms velocity of a gas increases when it is adiabatically compressed.

Homework Equations



None

The Attempt at a Solution



I know that compressing a gas decreases the volume, but I don't know details on how it would effect rms velocity
 
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Do you understand what adiabatically compressed means? If you don't, google it :-)
 


If you compress a gas adiabatically, no heat is transferred from the gas to its surroundings. You know that compressing a gas increases the temperature (and you can calculate by how much using your adiabatic relations).

[itex]T*V^{γ-1} = constant[/itex]
[itex]T_{0}*V_0^{γ-1} = T_1*(V_0 + ΔV)^{γ-1}[/itex]
Thus
[itex]T_1 = T_{0}*(V_0/(V_0 + ΔV))^{γ-1}[/itex]
And
[itex]ΔT = T_1 - T_0[/itex]

Then
[itex]ΔE = (3/2)N k_b ΔT= (1/2)N m (Δv)^2[/itex]
Or
[itex]Δv = \sqrt{(3/2) (k_b ΔT)/m}[/itex]
 
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And I was going to make you figure it out yourself. :-(:wink: