Work equations

$w=-P\Delta V$
and
$w=-\int_{V_{1}}^{V_{2}}PdV=-nRTln\frac{V_{2}}{V_{1}}$

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Miriam Sheetz 2B
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:25 am

Work equations

What is the difference between the capital W and lowercase w on the equation sheet?

JacobHershenhouse3G
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:17 am

Re: Work equations

Big difference! w is representative of work, while W represents degeneracy. They are each used in various equaitons we've looked at in class; work is more related to energy, while degeneracy is closely tied to entropy. Hope this helps! :)

Sophie Roberts 1E
Posts: 61
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:17 am

Re: Work equations

hi miriam! They both represent different things.. the lowercase w is to calculate work done on the system which is used for reversible and irreversible reactions. While, the capital W represents degeneracy, so it used to calculate residual entropy.

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