An adiabatic process is a process in which no heat transfer occurs from the system to its surroundings neither during expansion nor during compression.
This does not mean that the temperature is constant. but rather that no heat is transferred into or out of the system.
The adiabatic process can be either reversible or irreversible.
Following are the necessary conditions for the adiabatic process to take place. The system must be perfectly insulated from the surrounding. Mathematically, for an adiabatic process: , Where pressure, volume, ratio of specific heats at constant pressure and constant volume.
One of the good applications of the adiabatic process is the pendulum oscillating in a vertical plane.
A quantum harmonic oscillator is also an example of an adiabatic system.
When we put the ice into the icebox, no heat goes out and no heat comes in.
Hence, an adiabatic process is one in which there is no external heat entering or leaving the system under consideration.