Molecule Piston
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Watch individual molecules in a cylinder to see that pressure is molecules hitting the walls and temperature is their average kinetic energy. Count, collision by collision, how molecules speed up off an approaching piston in adiabatic compression, gain kinetic energy from a hot plate as heat, and do work pushing the piston, so that Q = ΔU + W appears, then explain irreversible change with free expansion and counting arrangements.
Key conceptskinetic theory of gases · pressure and molecular collisions · temperature and kinetic energy · root-mean-square speed · adiabatic compression · heat and work · first law of thermodynamics · free expansion · entropy · second law of thermodynamics