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What is an adiabatic process?

An adiabatic [add-ee-uh-bat-ick] process is a process by which the temperature of a fixed volume (amount) of air changes, even though no heat is exchanged between that air and the surrounding environment.

Two examples of adiabatic processes are the cooling of a rising parcel of air, due to the expansion of molecules (particles made by the combination of two or more atoms) within the parcel and the warming of a falling parcel of air, due to the compression of molecules within the parcel. (An air parcel is a small volume of air that has a consistent temperature throughout and experiences minimal mixing with the surrounding air.)

Sources: Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology,, p. 44; Engelbert, Phillis. The Complete Weather Resource, vol. 1, p. 55-58; McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 7th ed., vol. 1, p. 129.

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