Why does the temperature of an ideal gas decrease when expanded?

Asked Feb 01 '24 at 18:05

Active Feb 01 '24 at 22:48

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I understand that when an ideal gas is compressed using a piston, the piston does work on the gas and increases the gas's kinetic energy (so temperature). However, I do not understand why a gas is cooled when the piston is lifted and the gas expands. Where does the kinetic energy of the go?

A real life example of this would be the gas coming out of a can of deodorant being cold.

edited Feb 01 '24 at 22:48

Qmechanic

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asked Feb 01 '24 at 18:05

Varshil MVH Pets

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Does this answer your question? How can we explain expanding gas temperature at the microscopic level? – BowlOfRed Feb 01 '24 at 18:26
The temperature of an ideal gas doesn't decrease if we let it expand into a vacuum without performing work. The temperature of a non-ideal gas can, if the molecules are being attracted to each other. The expansion increases the average distance between the molecules, which means that it has to perform work against the inter-molecular forces. Is that what you are asking? – FlatterMann Feb 01 '24 at 18:27

Why does the temperature of an ideal gas decrease when expanded?

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