The volume of a gas is doubled (i) very rapidly, and (ii) very slowly. In which one of the processes the work done by the gas is higher?

Explanation

The rapid process is adiabatic and the slow process is isothermal. As the adiabatic curve is steeper than the isothermal curve, AB and AB represent the isothermal and adiabatic processes, respectively (fig). Now, work done is given by the area under the curve corresponding to a process.
As area ABDE > area ACDE,
the work done in the isothermal process is greater than that in the adiabatic process.