The expression for the adiabatic constant is,

P
V
C
C
=
Here,
P
C is the specific heat capacity of the substance at constant pressure,
V
C is the
specific heat capacity of the substance at constant volume.

The relation between specific heat capacity at constant pressure and the specific heat
capacity at constant volume is,
P V
C C nR =
Here, n is the number of moles of the gas and R is the gas constant.

The above expression for the mixture of two gases is,
( )
1 2 P V
C C n n R = +
Here,
1
n is the number of moles of the first gas and
2
n is the number of moles of the
second gas.

Rewrite the equation for
P
V
C
C
,
( )
1 2
1
P
V V
n n R
C
C C
+
=

Substitute for
P
V
C
C
,
( )
1 2
1
V
n n R
C

+
=

( )
1 2
1
V
n n R
C

+
=

( ) 1 ..


For a mixture of two gases, the specific heat capacity at constant volume is defined as,
1 2
1 2
1 1
V
n R n R
C

= +


Here,
1
is the effective exponent of the first gas and
2
is the effective exponent of the
second gas.

Let
1
f
1
1 2
n
n n
| |
=
|
+
\ .
be the mole fraction of the first gas and
2
f
2
1 2
n
n n
| |
=
|
+
\ .
be the mole
fraction of the second gas. Thus, the above equation becomes as,
( )
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 1
V
f f
C n n R

(
= + +
(



( ) 2 ..

Compare the equations (1) and (2),
( )
( )
1 2 1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 1 1
1
1 1 1
n n R
f f
n n R
f f


+ (
= + +
(


= +



Therefore, the equation
1 2
1 2
1
1 1 1
f f

= +

is proved.