ME 1211: BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Definitions

Applications of thermodynamics
All activities in nature involve some interaction between energy and matter; thus, it is hard to imagine an
area that does not relate to thermodynamics in some manner.

Fig. Some application areas of thermodynamics

System, Boundary and Surrounding

A system is defined as a quantity of matter or a region in space chosen for study. Simply, system is whatever
we want to study. It may be as simple as a free body or as complex as an entire chemical refinery.
The mass or region outside the system is called the surroundings.
Boundary or control surface separates the system from its surroundings which
• may be real or imaginary, at rest or in motion
• may change its shape and size
• neither contains matter nor occupies volume
• has zero thickness and a property value (e.g. temperature) at a point on the boundary is shared
by both the system and the surroundings.

Any thermodynamic analysis begins

with the selection of the system, its
boundary and the surroundings.

ME 1211/Sadman Hassan Labib/Lecturer /Dept. of MPE/ AUST [These Handouts are not alternative of Textbooks] Page 1
 ME 1211: BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Definitions

Closed, Open and Isolated systems

A closed system (also known as a control mass) consists of a fixed amount of mass, and no mass can cross
its boundary but energy is allowed to cross the boundary (in the form of heat and work)
Examples: Mixture of water and steam in a closed vessel, Gas
expanding in a piston-cylinder.

Fig. Closed system with a movable

boundary.
Fig. Closed system. Mass cannot cross
the boundary but energy can.

An open system (also known as a control volume) is a region in the space defined by a boundary across
which matter may flow in addition to energy (in the form of heat and work). The boundaries of a control
volume are called a control surface, and they can be real or imaginary. Most of the engineering devices are
open systems.
Examples: Flow through compressor, turbine, nozzle etc.

Fig. a control volume with

real and imaginary boundaries Fig. a control volume
with fixed and movable
boundaries
Isolated system is a special type of closed system in there is no interaction between system and
surroundings (i.e. neither matter nor energy is allowed to transfer through the boundary). A truly isolated
system can only be obtained ideally.
Example: a thermo-flask may be considered as approaching an isolated system.

Fig: Closed, Open and Isolated

Systems at a glance.

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 ME 1211: BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Definitions

Classical & Statistical Thermodynamics:

Thermodynamic systems can be studied from two points of view:
1. Macroscopic approach or Classical thermodynamics
2. Microscopic approach or Statistical thermodynamics

In macroscopic approach, certain quantity of matter is considered, without a concern on the events
occurring at the molecular level. These effects can be perceived by human senses or measured by
instruments. e.g. pressure, temperature, mass, volume etc.
In microscopic approach, the effect of molecular motion is considered. e.g. at microscopic level the
pressure of a gas is not constant, the temperature of a gas is a function of the velocity of molecules.
Most microscopic properties cannot be measured with common instruments nor can be perceived by human
senses.

The microscopic approach recognizes that the system consists of matter that is composed of countless,
discrete molecules. Statistics and probability theory are applied to deduce the macroscopic behavior or
measurable quantities e.g. pressure, temperature etc

Categories of properties:
Any characteristic of a system is called a property.
Properties are considered to be either intensive or extensive.
Extensive properties are those whose values depend on the size or extent of the system. e.g. total mass,
total volume and total momentum are some examples of extensive properties. (Upper case letters are used
as symbols, such as V for volume, M for mass)
Intensive properties are those that are independent of the size or extent of the system. e.g. temperature,
pressure, and density.

Specific property: It is the value of extensive property per unit of mass of the system. e.g. specific
volume (v), density. These are special case of intensive properties.

Most widely referred properties in thermodynamics: Pressure; Volume; Temperature; Entropy; Enthalpy;
Internal energy.

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