THERMODYNAMICS

MECH.2420

Week 2
 ANNOUNCEMENTS – WEEK 2

• Homework 1 is due this Sunday at 11 p.m.

• Register for Connect ASAP
 PRESSURE
Pressure: normal force per unit area

English units:

The normal stress (or “pressure”) on the

feet depends on the weight of a person

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 ABSOLUTE, GAGE AND VACUUM PRESSURE
• Absolute pressure: The actual pressure at a given position,
measured relative to absolute vacuum (i.e., absolute zero pressure)
• Gage pressure: The difference between absolute and local
atmospheric pressure. Most devices are calibrated to read zero in
the atmosphere, hence indicate gage pressure
• Vacuum pressures: Pressures below atmospheric pressure

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 VARIATION OF PRESSURE WITH DEPTH
Force balance on a differential volume at rest:

Dividing by DxDy (i.e. per unit area)

and re-arranging:

gs is very small for gases (e.g., < 10-3)

and significant for liquids

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 PRESSURE IN GASES AND IN LIQUIDS
Gases: Pressure same throughout Liquids: Pressure same at same heights
connected domain throughout connected domain

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 HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE
Pressure remains the same at same heights throughout
connected domain

What about point H? 7

 HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE: PASCAL’S LAW
Pascal’s law: The pressure applied to a confined fluid increases the
pressure throughout by the same amount
Little Force over Small Area
=
Large Force over Large Area
• Exploited in hydraulic lifts
• A2/A1 is the ideal mechanical advantage
• Allows lifting heavy objects with little force

Little force used to move a large

object … what is the catch?
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 PRESSURE MEASUREMENT DEVICES

The Manometer
• Commonly used to measure small and moderate
pressure differences
• Contains one or more fluids such as mercury,
water, alcohol, or oil

Pgas = P1 =

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 EXAMPLE: PRESSURIZED GAS TANK

Example:

Measure pressure
inside tank p

Known:
- patm
-L
-r
 PRESSURE MEASUREMENT DEVICES

The Barometer
• Device to measure atmospheric
pressure
• Atmospheric pressure is often
referred to as barometric pressure
• A frequently used pressure unit is
the standard atmosphere (atm):
the pressure by a column of
mercury 760 mm in height at 0 °C
(Hg = 13,595 kg/m3) under
standard gravitational acceleration
(g = 9.807 m/s2)

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 BAROMETER

Example:

Measure
atmospheric
pressure

Known:
- pvapor
-L
- rm
 ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

Height
indicates
Patm

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 EXAMPLES
Stack of fluid layers Differential manometer

Find pressure at the bottom (P1):

Find pressure drop (P1 – P2):

PA = PB 
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 IN-CLASS DEMO QUESTIONS
1) A manometer containing oil (ρ = 850 kg/m3) is attached to a tank
filled with air. If the oil-level difference between the two columns is
36 cm and the atmospheric pressure is 98 kPa, determine the
absolute pressure of the air in kPa.

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 IN-CLASS DEMO QUESTIONS
2) The piston of a vertical piston–cylinder device containing a gas
has a mass of 60 kg and a cross-sectional area of 0.04 m 2. The local
atmospheric pressure is 0.97 bar, and the gravitational acceleration
is 9.81 m/s2. (a) Determine the pressure inside the cylinder. (b) If
some heat is transferred to the gas and its volume is doubled, do you
expect the pressure inside the cylinder to change?

Patm = 0.97 bar

m = 60 kg

P=?

A = 0.04 m2
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 PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUE

• Step 1: Problem Statement

• Step 2: Schematic
• Step 3: Assumptions and
Approximations
• Step 4: Physical Laws
• Step 5: Properties
• Step 6: Calculations
• Step 7: Reasoning,
Verification, and Discussion

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 CHAPTER 1 SUMMARY
• Thermodynamics and energy
– Application areas of thermodynamics
• Importance of dimensions and units
– SI and English units, Dimensional homogeneity, Unity conversion ratios
• Systems and control volumes
• Properties of a system
– Continuum
• Density and specific gravity
• State and equilibrium
– The state postulate
• Processes and cycles
– Steady-flow processes
• Temperature and the zeroth law of thermodynamics
– Temperature scales
• Pressure
• The barometer and atmospheric pressure
• The manometer
• Problem solving technique
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 CHAPTER 2 OBJECTIVES
• Introduce the concept of energy and define its various
forms
• Discuss the nature of internal energy
• Define the concept of heat and the terminology
associated with energy transfer by heat
• Discuss the three mechanisms of heat transfer:
conduction, convection, and radiation
• Define the concept of mechanical energy

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 INTRODUCTION
• A well-sealed and well-insulated room contains either a fan running
or a refrigerator with its door open
• The only energy interaction involved is the electrical energy crossing
the system boundary and entering the room
• As a result of the conversion of electric energy consumed by the
device to heat, the room temperature will rise

A fan or a refrigerator
with its door open will
raise the temperature
of air in a well-sealed
well-insulated room

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 FORMS OF ENERGY
• Energy can exist in numerous forms: thermal, mechanical, kinetic,
potential, electric, magnetic, chemical, and nuclear, and their sum
constitutes the total energy, E of a system

• Macroscopic forms of energy: Those a system possesses as a whole with

respect to an outside reference frame, e.g., kinetic and potential energies

• Microscopic forms of energy: Those related to the molecular structure of a

system and the degree of the molecular activity
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 FORMS OF ENERGY
• Kinetic energy, KE: The energy that
a system possesses as a result of its
motion relative to some reference
frame

• Potential energy, PE: The energy

that a system possesses as a result
of its elevation in a gravitational field

• Internal energy, U: The sum of all

the microscopic forms of energy

What are the changes in Kinetic, Potential, and

Internal Energy as a vehicle goes up a slope?
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 FORMS OF ENERGY
Kinetic energy:

Kinetic energy per unit mass:

Potential energy:

Potential energy per unit mass:

Total energy of a system:

Total energy of a system per unit mass:

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 FORMS OF ENERGY
• Microscopic forms of energy: Those related to the molecular structure of a
system and the degree of the molecular activity

• Internal energy, U: The sum of all the microscopic forms of energy

Kinetic energy:
macroscopic (organized) vs.
microscopic (disorganized)

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 INTERNAL ENERGY
• Sensible energy: Internal Internal energy Sensible energy
energy associated with the
kinetic energies of the molecules

• Latent energy: Internal energy

due to the phase of a system

• Chemical energy: Internal

energy associated with the
atomic bonds in a molecule

• Nuclear energy: Energy

associated with the strong bonds
within the nucleus of an atom

Thermal = Sensible + Latent

Internal = Sensible + Latent + Chemical + Nuclear
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 CHANGE IN ENERGY OF A CLOSED SYSTEM
► The change in energy of a system from state 1 to state 2 is

E2 – E1 = (U2 – U1) + (KE2 – KE1) + (PE2 – PE1)

DE = DU + DKE + DPE

► Since an arbitrary value E1 can be assigned to the energy of a

system at a given state 1, no particular significance can be attached
to the value of energy at state 1 or any other state. Only changes in
the energy of a system between states have significance.
 IN-CLASS DEMO QUESTION
3) An object whose mass is 400 kg is located at an elevation
of 25 m above the surface of the earth. For g = 9.78 m/s2,
determine the gravitational potential energy of the object, in
kJ, relative to the surface of the earth.
 IN-CLASS DEMO QUESTION
4) An automobile having a mass of 900 kg initially moves
along a level highway at 100 km/h relative to the highway. It
then climbs a hill whose crest is 50 m above the level highway
and parks at a rest area located there. For the automobile,
determine its changes in kinetic and potential energy, each in
kJ. Let g = 9.81 m/s2.
 ENERGY TRANSFER
►For a closed system, energy can only be transferred through its boundaries by
Heat or Work

► You have studied work in mechanics and those concepts are retained in
the study of thermodynamics. However, thermodynamics deals with
phenomena not included within the scope of mechanics, and this requires
a broader interpretation of work

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ENERGY TRANSFER SIGN CONVENTION
Heat transfer to a system and work done by a system are positive
Heat transfer from a system and work done on a system are negative

An alternative to sign convention is to use the

subscripts in and out to indicate direction
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 ENERGY TRANSFER BY HEAT
Heat:
• The form of energy that is transferred between two systems in contact
(or a system and its surroundings) due to a temperature difference
• The energy associated with the random motion of atoms and molecules

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 FORMS OF HEAT TRANSFER
Conduction:
• Interaction of particles
• Fourier’s law
• Geometry: Area A, length L
• Material: thermal conductivity k

Convection:
• Fluid flow next to a solid
• Newton’s law of cooling Q c hA[Tb  Tf ]
• Geometry: Area A
• Material, conditions: convective
heat transfer coefficient h

Radiation:
• No intervening medium needed
• Stefan-Boltzmann law
Q e A[Tb4  Ts4 ]
• Geometry: Area A
• Material: emissivity e
• Constants: Stefan-Boltzmann s 32
 FORMS OF HEAT
Amount of heat transfer when heat transfer rate is:
• Constant:

• Changes with time:

• Heat transfer per unit mass:

• Adiabatic process: The system does

not exchange heat with its surroundings
• E.g., well-insulated boundary

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 MECHANICAL ENERGY
• Mechanical energy: Energy that can be converted to mechanical work
completely and directly by an ideal mechanical device (e.g., ideal turbine)
• Kinetic and potential energies: The familiar forms of mechanical energy
flow energy
Mechanical energy of a
flowing fluid per unit mass:

Rate of mechanical energy

of a flowing fluid:

Mechanical energy change of a fluid during incompressible flow per unit mass:

Rate of mechanical energy change of a fluid during incompressible flow:

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MECHANICAL ENERGY: HYDRAULIC TURBINE
Maximum power proportional to Maximum power proportional to
height difference h pressure drop (P2 – P3)

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MASS AND ENERGY IN A CONTROL VOLUME

Mass flow rate:

Energy flow rate:

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 IN-CLASS DEMO QUESTION
5) A water jet that leaves a nozzle at 60 m/s at a flow rate of
120 kg/s is to be used to generate power by striking the
buckets located on the perimeter of a wheel. Determine the
power generation potential of this water jet in kW.
 IN-CLASS DEMO QUESTION
6) At a certain location, wind is blowing steadily at 7 m/s.
Determine the mechanical energy of air per unit mass [kJ/kg]
and the power generation potential [kW] of a wind turbine with
80-m-diameter blades at that location. Take the air density
to be 1.25 kg/m3.
ADDITIONAL

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 PRESSURE (units/formulae ‘cheat sheet’)
Pressure:

=
=

Barometric Pressure

= Volume (not to be confused with V, velocity…

Manometer

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 FORMS OF ENERGY (units/formulae ‘cheat sheet’)
Internal Energy: Must look up in tables

Closed System/Energy
=

Mechanical Energy of a Flowing Fluid

Where:

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 FORMS OF ENERGY (units/formulae ‘cheat sheet’)
Mechanical Energy of a Flowing Fluid

Mass Flow Rate

Piston-Cylinder Work

F=P*
A
d
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 FORMS OF ENERGY (units/formulae ‘cheat sheet’)

Q [kJ] [BTU]
q [kJ/kg] [BTU/lbm]
Heat Transfer:

[kJ/s] = [kW] [BTU/s]

W [kJ] [BTU]
w [kJ/kg] [BTU/lbm]
Work:

[kW] [BTU/s]

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 SIGNIFICANT DIGITS
• In engineering calculations,
the information given is not
known to more than a certain
number of significant digits,
usually three digits
• Consequently, the results
obtained cannot possibly be
accurate to more significant
digits
• Reporting results in more
significant digits implies
greater accuracy than exists,
and it should be avoided

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 OTHER PRESSURE MEASUREMENT DEVICES
• Bourdon tube: Hollow metal tube bent like a
hook whose end is closed and connected to
a dial indicator needle
• Pressure transducers: Convert the
pressure effect to an electrical effect such as
a change in voltage, resistance, or
capacitance. They are smaller and faster,
and can be more sensitive, reliable, and
precise than their mechanical counterparts

• Strain-gage pressure transducers: Work

by having a diaphragm deflect between two
chambers open to the pressure inputs

• Piezoelectric transducers: Also called

solid-state pressure transducers, work on the
principle that an electric potential is Bourdon tubes
generated in a crystalline substance when it
is subjected to mechanical pressure 45
 NUCLEAR ENERGY
• The best-known fission reaction involves the
split of the uranium atom (the U-235 isotope)
into other elements and is commonly used to
generate electricity in nuclear power plants
(440 of them in 2004, generating 363,000 MW
worldwide), to power nuclear submarines and
aircraft carriers, and even to power spacecraft
as well as building nuclear bombs

• Nuclear energy by fusion is released when

two small nuclei combine into a larger one

• The uncontrolled fusion reaction was

achieved in the early 1950s, but all the efforts
since then to achieve controlled fusion by
massive lasers, powerful magnetic fields, and
electric currents to generate power have
failed
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