Question

Calculate the reversible work done in compressing 1 ft3 of mercury at a constant temp. of 0 o C from 1 atm to 3000 atm. The isothermal compressibility of mercury at 0 o C is : κ = 3.9 x 10-6 – 0.1 x 10-9 P , where P (atm) and κ (atm-1 ).​

Answer 1

Compressibility of a substance is defined as the ratio of volumetric strain to the change in pressure. It is also equal to the reciprocal of the bulk modulus of the substance. It is denoted by K (kappa).

, for an isothermal process.

As we know that, work done for isothermal reversible expansion is given by-