An ideal gas goes from state A to state B via three different processes as indicated in the p - V diagram. If Q₁, Q₂ and Q₃ indicate the heat absorbed by the three processes and U₁, U₂ and U₃ indicate the change in internal energy along the three processes respectively, then

Step-by-step solution

The internal energy of an ideal gas depends only on its temperature, which is a state function. Since all three processes start at state A and end at state B, the change in internal energy U is the same for all three paths. Therefore, U₁ = U₂ = U₃ . According to the first law of thermodynamics, Q = U + W , where W is the work done by the gas. The work done W is equal to the area under the p-V curve. From the given diagram, the area under path 1 is the largest, followed by path 2, and then path 3. Thus, W₁ > W₂ > W₃