Work Done by Expanding Gas

The work done, w , by a gas expanding from 2 cm 3 to 10 cm 3 is given by the following definite integral: integral.

  1. Use Simpson's Rule with N = 4 subintervals to estimate w .
  2. Find an exact value for w by evaluating the definite integral above using calculus.

Solution:

  1. From Simpson's Rule with N = 4 subintervals:

    where , and f(V) = 500V -1.4

  2. Evaluate the definite integral using calculus:

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Written by Arch McFarlane, June 2003