PV Work. Chem

Question

A piston has an external pressure of 6.00 atm . How much work has been done in joules if the cylinder goes from a volume of 0.180 liters to 0.510 liters?
Express your answer with the appropriate units.

Answer 1

work= -p *dV, where dV is the change in volume (V2-V1)

 

work= (-6 atm) * (.51-.18) liters = -1.98 atm*liter

 

You want the answer in joules so you need to convert it. The conversion for this is to multiply your answer by 101.325 because (L*atm)*101.325 = Joules

 

Thus,

 

work=-200.6235 J