14.2

Thermodynamic Applets

The Virtual Laboratory (G. Bothun), University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab
from The Virtual Laboratory (G. Bothun) at the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. Three different lessons written using three different applets:
1. Thermodynamic Equilibrium: Mixing Gases of Different Temperature Looks at the time it takes for a system to come into thermodynamic equilibrium and observe the behavior of the diffusion process.
2. Particles in an Atmosphere: Mean Particle Speed and Escape Velocity Discover the relation: 1/2mv2 = 3/2kT and that P is proportional to T for fixed volume. Note: Excessive pressure in the balloon will cause it to pop (audibly and visually). Also a graphical tool plots the distribution of particle speeds (a Maxwellian) for each temperature.
3. Ideal Gas Law: The Piston in the Cylinder Discover Charles' law by changing the temperature under conditions of constant volume and observe the change in pressure. The user can hold temperature constant and construct an isotherm as well.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.