The gas tank of your car can hold 60 L of gasoline. Do you get more gasoline in terms of the number of moles when you fill your tank when the gasoline is cold or hot? The coefficient of volume expansion for gasoline = 930 × 10⁻⁶/K and that of steel is 33 × 10⁻⁶/K.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Gasoline expands when the temperature increases, according to the coefficient of volume expansion given. Therefore, when gasoline is hot, the volume occupied by a certain number of moles of gasoline will be greater than when gasoline is cold. This means that to fill a 60 L tank with hot gasoline, more moles of gasoline will be required than to fill it with cold gasoline, so one would get less gasoline in terms of the number of moles when filling the tank with hot gasoline.

The Gas Tank of Your Car Can Hold 60 L