Why is isothermal compression more efficient

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Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Search within work. All rights reserved. As an example of problem solving, I attempt to answer the following question: If you have little energy available, would you rather use an isothermal or an adiabatic process to compress a gas?

Now, finally, to my question: Intuitively I would assume that the isothermal work is usually lower than the adiabatic work, as compression lowers the volume of the system and therefore usually increases the temperature if heat exchange with the surroundings is not allowed.

Improve this question. Koolman 1 1 gold badge 9 9 silver badges 21 21 bronze badges. Since this is designed for a course, this should be made explicit. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Gaurang Tandon 8, 10 10 gold badges 55 55 silver badges bronze badges. Chet Miller Chet Miller See my comment on the above answer.

Do you disagree with this? This is also what Koolman was trying to convey in his comment to Satwik's answer. Show 7 more comments. Featured on Meta. Right Answer is: D. Isothermal compression: If the compression is carried out isothermally, then it follows the curve which has less slope than both isentropic and polytropic processes.

Thus, the compressor will have higher efficiency if compression follows the isothermal process. In practice, compressors run at high speeds which results in the polytropic process.