Specific Heat Capacities of Air

The nominal values used for air at 300 K are CP = 1.00 kJ/kg.K, Cv = 0.718 kJ/kg.K,,
and k = 1.4. However they are all functions of temperature, and with the extremely
high temperature range experienced in internal combustion and gas turbine engines
one can obtain significant errors. The table following gives the values of specific heat
capacities as a function of temperature. We find that choosing values of specific heat
capacities at the average temperature of each process gives results with reasonable
accuracy (within around 1%).

Ideal gas specific heat capacities of air

Temperature CP Cv
k
K kJ/kg.K kJ/kg.K
250 1.003 0.716 1.401
300 1.005 0.718 1.400
350 1.008 0.721 1.398
400 1.013 0.726 1.395
450 1.020 0.733 1.391
500 1.029 0.742 1.387
550 1.040 0.753 1.381
600 1.051 0.764 1.376
650 1.063 0.776 1.370
700 1.075 0.788 1.364
750 1.087 0.800 1.359
800 1.099 0.812 1.354
900 1.121 0.834 1.344
1000 1.142 0.855 1.336
1100 1.155 0.868 1.331
1200 1.173 0.886 1.324
1300 1.190 0.903 1.318
1400 1.204 0.917 1.313
1500 1.216 0.929 1.309
 Temperature, density, specific heat, thermal conductivity,
expansion coefficient, kinematic viscosity and Prandtl's number for
temperatures ranging -150 - 400 oC
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Air density, specific heat, thermal conductivity, kinematic viscosity, expansion coefficient and
Prandtl's number - temperatures ranging -150 oC to 400 oC.

Thermal Expansion
perature Density Specific Heat Kinematic Viscosity
Conductivity Coefficient Prandtl's N
-t- -ρ- - cp - -ν-
-k- -b- - Pr -
(oC) (kg/m3) (kJ/(kg K)) x 10 (m2/s)
-6
(W/(m K)) x 10-3 (1/K)

-150 2.793 1.026 0.0116 3.08 8.21 0.76

-100 1.980 1.009 0.0160 5.95 5.82 0.74

-50 1.534 1.005 0.0204 9.55 4.51 0.725

0 1.293 1.005 0.0243 13.30 3.67 0.715

20 1.205 1.005 0.0257 15.11 3.43 0.713

40 1.127 1.005 0.0271 16.97 3.20 0.711

60 1.067 1.009 0.0285 18.90 3.00 0.709

80 1.000 1.009 0.0299 20.94 2.83 0.708

100 0.946 1.009 0.0314 23.06 2.68 0.703

120 0.898 1.013 0.0328 25.23 2.55 0.70

140 0.854 1.013 0.0343 27.55 2.43 0.695

 Thermal Expansion
perature Density Specific Heat Kinematic Viscosity
Conductivity Coefficient Prandtl's N
-t- -ρ- - cp - -ν-
-k- -b- - Pr -
(oC) (kg/m3) (kJ/(kg K)) x 10 (m2/s)
-6
(W/(m K)) x 10-3 (1/K)

160 0.815 1.017 0.0358 29.85 2.32 0.69

180 0.779 1.022 0.0372 32.29 2.21 0.69

200 0.746 1.026 0.0386 34.63 2.11 0.685

250 0.675 1.034 0.0421 41.17 1.91 0.68

300 0.616 1.047 0.0454 47.85 1.75 0.68

350 0.566 1.055 0.0485 55.05 1.61 0.68

400 0.524 1.068 0.0515 62.53 1.49 0.68

 properties for atmospheric pressure

  Air Composition

Example - Mass of Air at 100 oC

From the table above - the density of air is 0.946 kg/m3 at 100 oC. The mass of 10 m3 air can
then be calculated as

m=Vρ

= (10 m3) (0.946 kg/m3)

= 9.46 kg

where

m = mass (kg)

V = volume (m3)

ρ = density (kg/m3)
 Specific Heats of Gases

The specific heats of gases are generally expressed as molar specific heats. For a
monoatomic ideal gas the internal energy is all in the form of kinetic energy, and kinetic
theory provides the expression for that energy, related to the kinetic temperature. The
expression for the internal energy is

Two specific heats are defined for gases, one for constant volume (CV) and one for constant Index
pressure (CP). For a constant volume process with a monoatomic ideal gas the first law of
thermodynamics gives:
Gas law
concepts

Kinetic
theory
More general
concepts
case

Further application of the ideal gas law and first law gives the relationship

Show

The ratio of the specific heats γ = CP/CV is a factor in adiabatic engine processes and in
determining the speed of sound in a gas. This ratio γ = 1.66 for an ideal monoatomic gas
andγ = 1.4 for air, which is predominantly a diatomic gas.

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The molar specific heat at constant volume is defined by

Using the first law of thermodynamics this can be put in the form

but since ΔV = 0, the expression for CV becomes

For a monoatomic ideal gas, , so

This value agrees well with experiment for monoatomic noble gases such as helium and argon, but does not desc
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 Constant Pressure Specific Heat
The molar specific heat at constant pressure is defined by

Constant pressure

Using the first law of thermodynamics for a constant pressure process this can be put in the form

From the ideal gas law (PV=nRT) under constant pressure conditions it can be seen that
Index

Kinetic
theory
concepts

Since the constant volume specific heat is

it follows that
For an ideal monoatomic gas

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 Molar Specific Heats of Gases
The molar specific heats of ideal monoatomic gases are:

Index

Kinetic
theory
concepts

For diatomic molecules, two rotational degrees of freedom are added, corresponding to the
rotation about two perpendicular axes through the center of the molecule. This would be
expected to give CV = 5/2 R, which is borne out in examples like nitrogen and oxygen. A
general polyatomic molecule will be able to rotate about three perpendicular axes, which
would be expected to give CV = 3R. The departure from this value which is observed
indicates that vibrational degrees of freedom must also be included for a complete description
of specific heats of gases.

Examples Table of molar heat capacities

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 Selected Specific Heats

Index

Kinetic
theory
concepts

The models of constant-volume specific heat based on equipartition of energy and including
rotational degrees of freedom as well as translational are able to explain specific heats for
diatomic molecules. The departure from this model in the case of polyatomic molecules
indicates vibrational involvement.

The constant pressure specific heat is related to the constant volume value by CP = CV + R.
The ratio of the specific heats γ = CP/CV is a factor in adiabatic engine processes and in
determining the speed of sound in a gas.

Hydrogen as example of diatomic molecule

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 Hydrogen Specific Heat

The behavior of the specific heat of hydrogen with changing temperature was extremely puzzling early
in the 20th century. At low temperatures it behaved like a monoatomic gas, but at higher temperatures
its specific heat took on a value similar to other diatomic molecules. It took the development of the
quantum theory to show that diatomic hydrogen, with its tiny rotational inertia, required a large amount
of energy to excite its first excited molecular rotation quantum state. Since it could not get that amount
of energy at low temperatures, it acted like a monoatomic gas.

Specific heats of gases Equipartition of energy