You are driving in the hot Nevada desert (40oC and 15%rh) on vacation in your 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, retracing the steps of Raoul Duke and his trusty attorney Dr. Gonzo as featured in Hunter S. Thompson’s book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, when they drove to cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race. Suddenly a puff of smoke appears from under the hood, and when the temperature in your car begins to rise, you realize that your air conditioning system has just broken, miles away from any service station. As panic starts to set in, you recall Dr. Timusk mentioning something in your Building Science lecture about “adiabatic cooling”. As you start to sweat, you wish you had paid more attention in class as the details seem fuzzy at first. But then you see the spray bottle of water in the back seat and it all starts to become clear. You recall that by misting water into the dry, hot desert air inside the car, you should be able to cool it “adiabatically”. A. Given that the air is at 40oC and 15% relative humidity, what temperature could you cool the air inside the car to if you sprayed enough water to bring the air up to saturation (100% rh)? B. If there were 10kg of dry air in the car, how much water would you have to mist into the air to cool it as described in part A?

College Physics

10th Edition

ISBN:9781285737027

Author:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille

Publisher:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille

Chapter10: Thermal Physics

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 53AP

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You are driving in the hot Nevada desert (40oC and 15%rh) on vacation in your 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, retracing the steps of Raoul Duke and his trusty attorney Dr. Gonzo as featured in Hunter S. Thompson’s book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, when they drove to cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race. Suddenly a puff of smoke appears from under the hood, and when the temperature in your car begins to rise, you realize that your air conditioning system has just broken, miles away from any service station. As panic starts to set in, you recall Dr. Timusk mentioning something in your Building Science lecture about “adiabatic cooling”. As you start to sweat, you wish you had paid more attention in class as the details seem fuzzy at first. But then you see the spray bottle of water in the back seat and it all starts to become clear. You recall that by misting water into the dry, hot desert air inside the car, you should be able to cool it “adiabatically”. A. Given that the air is at 40oC and 15% relative humidity, what temperature could you cool the air inside the car to if you sprayed enough water to bring the air up to saturation (100% rh)? B. If there were 10kg of dry air in the car, how much water would you have to mist into the air to cool it as described in part A?

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