A system does 210 J of work on its environment and gains 80.6 J of heat in the process. Find the change in the internal energy of (a) the system and (b) the environment.

ÄU = Q - W
Where ÄU is the change in the internal energy of the system,
Q is the heat/energy gained from the surroundings,
W is the work done on the environment.

ÄU =80.6-210=-129.4 J.
The internal energy decreased by 129.4 Joules which corresponds to a temperature decrease of the system

I understand what the internal energy of the system is but I do not understand how to find the environment.

1 answer

Enviromentenergy=- change in internalwork Rationale: if the internal energy increased by xXXX, then the environment must have lost that much energy.