Question

What is the heat capacity (or specific heat), isothermal compressibility, and coefficient of thermal expansion of an ideal gas, van der Waals fluid, electromagnetic field, rubber band, and a magnetic spin system?

Answer 1

Solution:

i) Heat Capacity(or specific heat)- The heat capacity is the amount of heat (joules) needed to raise the system's temperature by one degree (Kelvin).

Or

The amount of heat needed to increase the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree is the specific heat capacity.

As Example, The specific heat capacity of water is 4.18 joules per gram per degree Kelvin.

ii) Isothermal compressibility - Isothermal compressibility is the fractional change in volume of a system as the pressure changes at constant temperature.

iii) Coefficient of thermal expansion of an ideal gas - When gases are heated, they expand. The fractional change in the volume of a material expands as its temperature increases is called the coefficient of thermal expansion.

iv) Van der Waals fluid - The van der Waals equation is a thermodynamic equation describing gases and liquids (fluids) under a given set of conditions as example pressure (p), volume (V), and temperature (T). It assumes that fluids are composed of particles with non-zero volumes, and subject to a pairwise inter-particle attractive force.

v) Electromagnetic field - An electromagnetic field is a physical field produced by electrically charged objects.

The field can be viewed as the combination of an electric field and a magnetic field.

vi) Rubber band – It is usually ring shaped and commonly used rubber to hold multiple objects together.

vii) Magnetic spin system – This system shows the direction and spin of electron. It is fourth of the quantum numbers. The spin of a charged particle is associated with a magnetic dipole moment.

Allowed values of magnetic spin are 0, 1/2, 1, 3/2, 2, etc