adiabatic compressibility
Quick Summary
Adiabatic compressibility refers to how much a substance's volume changes under pressure when no heat is exchanged with its surroundings. This is a concept within thermodynamics.1
In an adiabatic process, energy transfer occurs solely through work, not heat. For example, a rapid expansion or contraction of a gas closely approximates an adiabatic process. When a gas expands adiabatically, it cools because it does work using its own internal energy. This is unlike an isothermal process, where temperature is kept constant and heat is absorbed to compensate for the work done.12
The term "compressibility effect" can also refer to changes in an airplane's control characteristics when its speed approaches the local speed of sound, causing the air to no longer behave as an incompressible fluid.3
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