Approach to thermal equilibrium in a system with adiabatic constraints

The problem of prediction of the equilibrium state in an isolated composite system with an adiabatic internal wall is a delicate problem, whose solution is easily seen to be not entirely determined in the frame of elementary thermodynamics. We show how this indeterminacy can be removed by introducing a suitable kinetic model, in which the influence of the finite velocity of the wall on the change of momentum of the gas molecules impinging on it plays a relevant role. An interesting feature of the entropy behavior of the system is discussed. (C) 1996 American Association of Physics Teachers.