Presented by: John Lester D.

Mones
Objectives
At the end of this course, the learners should be able to:
• explain the basic concepts of thermodynamics such as system, state, equilibrium, process,
and cycle;
• discuss the steady-flow process of fluid in control volume; and
• solve thermodynamic problems involving temperature scales and pressure
• System
- quantity of matter or a region in space chosen for study

• Surroundings
- mass or region outside the system

• Boundary
- real or imaginary surface that separates the system from
its surroundings
- it can be fixed or movable
• Open system (also known as a control volume)
- mass or energy can cross the boundary

• Closed system (also known as a control mass)

- no mass can enter or leave but energy, in the form of heat or work,
can cross the boundary

• Isolated system
- even energy is not allowed to cross the boundary
• mass cannot cross the boundaries of a closed system, but energy can

• a closed system with a moving boundary

• Property
- refers to any characteristic of a system

• Properties are considered to be either intensive or extensive.

 Intensive properties – are independent of the mass of a system (e.g. temperature,
pressure, and density)
 Extensive properties – depend on the size or extent of the system (e.g. total mass, total
volume, and total momentum)
• An easy way to determine whether a property is intensive or extensive is to divide the system
into two equal parts with an imaginary partition
• Generally, uppercase letters are used to denote extensive properties (with mass m being a
major exception)

• Lowercase letters are used for intensive properties (with pressure P and temperature T being
the obvious exceptions)

• Specific properties – an extensive properties per unit mass

- e.g. specific volume (v = V/m) and specific total energy (e = E/m)
• Density is defined as mass per unit volume

𝐦
𝛒= (kg/m 3)
𝐕

• Specific volume is defined as volume per unit mass

𝐕 𝟏
𝐯= =
𝐦 𝛒

• For a differential volume element of mass dm and volume dV, density can be expressed as

𝒅𝐦
𝛒=
𝒅𝐕
• Specific gravity (or relative density) is defined as the ratio of the
density of a substance to the density of some standard substance at a
specified temperature

𝛒
𝐒𝐆 =
𝛒𝐇𝟐 𝐎

• In SI units, the numerical value of the specific gravity of a substance is

exactly equal to its density in g/cm 3 or kg/L

• Specific weight is the weight of a unit volume of a substance

𝛄𝐬 = 𝛒𝐠 (N/m 3)
• State is a set of properties that completely describes the system

(a) State 1 (b) State 2

• Thermodynamics deals with equilibrium states.

• Equilibrium implies a state of balance
There are many types of equilibrium:
• Thermal equilibrium – temperature is the same throughout the entire system

(a) Before (b) After

• Mechanical equilibrium – there is no change in pressure at any point of the system with time
phase
There are many types of equilibrium:
• Phase Equilibrium - when the mass of each phase reaches an equilibrium level and stays
there

• Chemical equilibrium - if the chemical composition does not change with time (no chemical
reactions occur)

• Thermodynamic equilibrium – the conditions of all the relevant types of equilibrium are satisfied
• Process – any change that a system undergoes from one
equilibrium state to another

• Path – a series of states through which a system passes

during a process
• Quasi-static (or quasi-equilibrium, process) – any a
sufficiently slow process that allows the system to adjust
itself internally so that properties in one part of the (a) Slow compression
(quasi-equilibrium)
system do not change any faster than those at other
parts.

(b) Very fast compression

(nonquasi-equilibrium)
• Process diagrams plotted by employing thermodynamic properties as coordinates are very
useful in visualizing the processes
• The prefix iso- is often used to designate a process for which a particular property remains
constant
 Isothermal process - a process during which the temperature remains constant
 Isobaric process - a process during which the pressure remains constant
 Isochoric (or isometric) - a process during which the specific volume v remains
constant

• A system is said to have undergone a cycle if it returns to its initial state at the end of the
process.
• Steady implies no change with time. The opposite of steady is unsteady/transient.
• Uniform implies no change with location over a specified region
• Steady-flow process is a process during which a fluid flows through a control volume steadily

T ime: 1 PM T ime: 3 PM

• Therefore, the volume V, the mass m, and the total energy content E of the control volume
remain constant during a steady-flow process
• Steady-flow conditions can be closely approximated by devices that are intended for
continuous operation such as:
• Zeroth law of thermodynamics states that if two bodies are in thermal equilibrium with a third
body, they are also in thermal equilibrium with each other
• By replacing the third body with a thermometer, the zeroth law can be restated as two bodies
are in thermal equilibrium if both have the same temperature reading even if they are not in
contact
• Two bodies reaching thermal equilibrium after being brought into contact in an isolated
enclosure.
 The temperature scales used in the SI and in the English system today are:
• Celsius scale - the freezing and boiling points of water were originally assigned the values of 0
and 100°C, respectively

• Fahrenheit scale – values assigned are 32 and 212°F

• Kelvin scale – a thermodynamic temperature scale in the SI which is designated by K

• Rankine scale - a thermodynamic temperature scale in the English which is designated by R

• The Kelvin scale is related to the Celsius scale by
𝑻 𝐊 = 𝑻 °𝐂 + 𝟐𝟕𝟑. 𝟏𝟓

• The Rankine scale is related to the Fahrenheit scale by

𝑻 𝐑 = 𝑻 °𝐅 + 𝟒𝟓𝟗. 𝟔𝟕

• The temperature scales in the two unit systems are related by

𝑻 𝐑 = 𝟏. 𝟖𝑻 𝐊
𝑻 𝐅 = 𝟏. 𝟖𝑻 °𝐂 + 𝟑𝟐
• When we are dealing with temperature differences ∆T,
the temperature interval on both scales is the same.
∆𝑻 𝐊 = ∆𝑻 °𝐂
∆𝑻 𝐑 = ∆𝑻 °𝐅

• Raising the temperature of a substance by 10°C is the

same as raising it by 10 K

• If the relation involves TEMPERATURES ONLY AND

NOT THE TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCES then K
must be used
EXAMPLE Expressing Temperature Rise in Different Units

During a heating process, the temperature of a system rises by 10°C. Express this rise in
temperature in K, °F, and R.

Solution:
∆𝑇 K = ∆𝑇 °C = 𝟏𝟎 𝐊
∆𝑇 R = 1.8 ∆𝑇 K = 1.8 10 = 𝟏𝟖 𝐑
∆𝑇 °F = ∆𝑇 R = 𝟏𝟖 °𝐅
• The normal force exerted by a fluid per unit area is called pressure
• Its unit is the Pascal
𝟏 𝐏𝐚 = 𝟏 𝐍/𝐦𝟐

• Three other pressure units commonly used in practice, are bar, standard atmosphere, and
kilogram-force per square centimeter:
𝟏 𝐛𝐚𝐫 = 𝟏𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐚
𝟏 𝐚𝐭𝐦 = 𝟏𝟎𝟏, 𝟑𝟐𝟓 𝐏𝐚
𝟏 𝐤𝐠𝐟/𝐜𝐦𝟐 = 𝟗𝟖, 𝟎𝟕𝟎 𝐏𝐚
• Absolute pressure - the actual pressure at a given position and it is measured relative to
absolute vacuum

• Most pressure-measuring devices, are calibrated to read zero in the atmosphere

• Gage pressure - difference between the absolute pressure and the local atmospheric pressure
• Vacuum pressure - pressures below atmospheric pressure

• The absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures are related by

𝐏𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 = 𝐏𝐚𝐛𝐬 − 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 (for pressures above Patm)

𝐏𝐯𝐚𝐜 = 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 − 𝐏𝐚𝐛𝐬 (for pressures below Patm)

EXAMPLE Absolute Pressure of a Vacuum Chamber

A vacuum gage connected to a chamber reads 5.8 psi at a location where the atmospheric
pressure is 14.5 psi. Determine the absolute pressure in the chamber.

Solution:
Pabs = Patm − Pvac = 14.5 − 5.8 = 𝟖. 𝟕 𝐩𝐬𝐢
• If we take point 1 to be at the free surface of a liquid open to the
atmosphere, where the pressure is the atmospheric pressure
Patm, then the pressure at a depth h from the free surface
becomes:

𝐏 = 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 + 𝛒𝐠𝐡 or 𝐏𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 = 𝛒𝐠𝐡

• Pressure in a fluid increases with depth because more fluid rests on deeper layers, and the
effect of this “extra weight” on a deeper layer is balanced by an increase in pressure

• The variation of pressure with elevation is given by

𝒅𝐏
= −𝛒𝐠
𝒅𝐳
∆𝐏 = 𝐏𝟐 − 𝐏𝟏 = 𝛒𝐠 ∆𝐳 = 𝛄𝐬 ∆𝐳
• Manometer – a device to measure pressure differences of a fluid column

• The differential fluid column of height h is in static equilibrium, and it is open to the
atmosphere. Then the pressure at point 2 is determined directly from

𝐏𝟐 = 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 + 𝛒𝐠𝐡
 ρ = SG ρH2 O = 0.85 1000 kg/m3 = 850 kg/m3

P = Patm + ρgh

1N 1 kPa
P = 96 kPa + (850 kg/m3)(9.81 m/s 2)(0.55 m)
1 kg ∙ m/s 2 1000 N/m2

𝐏 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎. 𝟔 𝐤𝐏𝐚
 Many engineering problems and some manometers involve
multiple immiscible fluids of different densities stacked on top of each
other. Such systems can be analyzed easily by remembering that:
1. the pressure change across a fluid column of height h is ∆P = 𝛒gh;
2. pressure increases downward in a given fluid and decreases
upward (i.e. Pbottom >Ptop); and
3. two points at the same elevation in a continuous fluid at rest are at
the same pressure
Pascal’s law allows us to “jump” from one fluid column to the next in
manometers without worrying about pressure change as long as we
don’t jump over a different fluid, and the fluid is at rest.

𝐏𝟏 = 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 + 𝛒𝟏𝐠𝐡𝟏 + 𝛒𝟐𝐠𝐡𝟐 + 𝛒𝟑𝐠𝐡𝟑

P1 + ρwater gh1 + ρoil gh2 + ρmercury gh3 = Patm
• Atmospheric pressure is measured by a device called a barometer
• The atmospheric pressure is often referred to as the barometric pressure
𝟏 𝐚𝐭𝐦 = 𝟕𝟔𝟎𝐦𝐦𝐇𝐠
𝟏 𝐦𝐦𝐇𝐠 = 𝟏 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐫
𝟏 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐫 = 𝟏𝟑𝟑. 𝟑 𝐏𝐚

• Writing a force balance in the vertical direction gives:

𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 = 𝛒𝐠𝐡
 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 = 𝛒𝐠𝐡

𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐦 = 𝟗𝟖. 𝟓 𝐤𝐏𝐚

PA = Patm A + W

𝐏 = 𝟏. 𝟏𝟐 𝐛𝐚𝐫
It is more appropriate to retain all the digits
during intermediate calculations, and to do
the rounding in the final step