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Homework Statement
2 boxes containing the same number of moles of 2 ideal identical gases with the same adiabatic index (this is given as gamma), at the same initial temperature Ti but with different volumes, V1 and V2 are brought together. Find the maximum mechanical work that can be obtained.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
If the gases have all the parameters identical but the volumes, that means that they also have different pressures, so when we are mixing them, the gas with the higher pressure will do work on the gas with lower pressure. However, I have no idea how to calculate this work and the answer given is a big messy expression. It dosent say anything about the recipients being adibatically isolated, but I guess I have to assume that? The temperature will be constant? I think I should calculate the variation of entropy for the system and then relate this to the first principle to get the work done, but I have no idea how to do that.