All Problems

Mechanical Oscillations

Problem 4.62

In a cylinder filled up with ideal gas and closed from both ends there is a piston of mass m, and cross-sectional area S (Fig. 4.21). In equilibrium the piston divides the cylinder into two equal parts, each with volume \(V_{0}\). The gas pressure is \(p_{0}\). The piston was slighlty displaced from the equilibrium position and released. Find its oscillation frequency, assuming the processes in the gas to be adiabatic and the friction negligible.

Reveal Answer
ω=S2γp0/mV0 , where γ is the adiabatic exponent. \omega=S \sqrt{2 \gamma p_{0} / m V_{0}} \text { , where } \gamma \text { is the adiabatic exponent. }