Atkins & de Paula:
Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences
For a perfect gas, the work of isothermal reversible expansion is given by
Where Vf / Vi is the ratio of final volume to initial volume, n is the amount of gas molecules (mol), T is the temperature (kelvin), and R is the gas constant (J K-1 mol-1).
Note that, for a given change of volume and fixed amount of gas, the work is greater the higher the temperature.
To graph work (J) enter the parameters (i.e., n and T) and hit New Plot. Up to 5 plots can be
displayed at one time. The Clear button will remove all plots. To see the parameters for each plot hit the
Legend on/off button. The Redraw button will refresh the graph. This is useful when the function
domain (i.e., Vf / Vi ) has been changed. To see the value of each plot at a given point,
move your cursor to the desired location then click and hold.