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Thermal Process in an Ideal Gas

• There are various kinds of thermal processes.
• An isothermal process takes place at constant temperature. During an isothermal expansion, the work done by an ideal gas is W = nRT ln(Vf/Vi), where n the number of moles, R is the universal gas constant, T is the absolute temperature, Vi is the initial volume of the gas, and Vf is its final volume.
• In an isothermal process, the internal energy of an ideal gas does not change.
• In an isobaric process, the pressure remains constant, and W = P(Vf – Vi).
• In an isovolumetric process, V remains constant, and W = 0.
• In an adiabatic process, Q = 0, i.e., no heat is added to, or removed from, the system.