Calculate the work necessary to compress air in an isolated cylinder with initial and final volumes of 6.0 and 1.2 ft^3, respectively. The initial pressure and temperature are 30.0 psia and 50 degree F, respectively.

Answer 1

Is this an adiabatic process? or an isothermal one? Or something in between?

Perhaps your word "isolated" is supposed to be "insulated", in which case the process is adiabatic.

If that is the case, use the rule
P V^gamma = constant and calculate the integral of P dV for the volume change