This document provides a cheat sheet on basic thermodynamic processes including definitions of isobaric, isochoric, isothermal, and adiabatic processes. It defines relevant variables such as pressure, volume, temperature, heat transfer, work done, and change in internal energy. For each process, it lists the work done by gas, heat transferred, and change in internal energy.

1. Thermodynamics Cheat Sheet
Basic thermodynamic processes
p: pressure [Pa] γ: cp/cV
V , ∆V : volume, change in volume [m3
] Wg: work done by the gas [J]
T, ∆T: temperature, change in temperature [K] Q: heat transferred to the gas [J]
m: mass [kg] ∆U: change in internal energy [J]
cp, cV : specific heat at constant pressure, volume J
kgK
Process Definition Work done by the gas Heat transfer Change in internal energy
isobaric p = const. Wg = p∆V Q = cpm∆T ∆U = Q − Wg
isochoric V = const. Wg = 0 Q = cV m∆T ∆U = Q
isothermal T = const. Wg = nRT ln
V2
V1
Q = −nRT ln
V2
V1
∆U = 0
adiabatic Q = 0 Wg = −
p2V2 − p1V1
γ − 1
Q = 0 ∆U = −Wg