SME 1413 – Final exam 2009 sem.

Question 1(a)

i) How do you describe :

- thermal equilibrium, and [1 marks]
- mechanical equilibrium [1 marks]
ii) Describe what do you understand by Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics [2 marks]
iii) Describe what closed system and open system are with respect to mass and energy of the substance in
the system. Draw suitable diagrams to illustrate your respective written descriptions. [4 marks]

Question 1(b)

i) With the aid of suitable diagrams drawn, describe what gage and vacuum pressures are in term of
atmospheric and absolute pressures. [2 marks]
ii) With reference to Figure (b)(ii), write an equation for pressure P1 in term of respective heights h1, h2,
h3, respective densities of water (ρw), oil (ρo) and mercury (ρm) and atmospheric pressure, Patm.
[4 marks]

Figure (b)(ii) Figure (b)(iii)

iii) With reference to Figure (b)(iii), determine the differential height h (cm) of the mercury column when
the gage pressure of air in the tank is measured to be 80 kPa. Use the definition of gage pressure as
you described in (b)(i). [6 marks]

Note: Do not redraw Figures (b)(ii) and (b)(iii) in your answer scripts – as it is a waste of time and does
not carry any mark.

Question 2

a) Determine the phase, temperature (oC) and internal energy (kJ/kg) of each of the following for
Refrigerant-134a. Show all the states on a Temperature versus Specific Volume (T-v) diagram.
i) P = 800 kPa, v = 0.01 m3/kg
ii) P = 800 kPa, h = 264.15 kJ/kg
iii) P = 800 kPa, h = 290.00 kJ/kg
iv) P = 800 kPa, v = 0.0007770 m3/kg
 [12 marks]

b) A piston-cylinder device contains 0.1 m3 of carbon dioxide at 100 kPa and 300 K. The gas is then
slowly compressed in an isothermal process to a final pressure of 200 kPa. Data for carbon dioxide is
given in the table below.
Gas Gas Constant, R (kJ/kg.K) Critical Temperature (K) Critical Pressure ( MPa)
Carbon Dioxide 0.1889 304.2 7.39
i) Can the carbon dioxide in the cylinder be considered as an ideal gas? Explain your answer.
ii) Determine the mass of the carbon dioxide in the cylinder (kg).
iii) Determine the final volume of the carbon dioxide (m3).
iv) Show the process on a pressure versus volume (P-V) diagram.
[8 marks]

Question 3
A piston–cylinder device initially contains 0.3 m3 of saturated water vapor at 2.0 MPa. At this state, the
piston is resting on a set of stops, and the mass of the piston is such that a pressure of 3 MPa is required to
move it. Heat is now slowly transferred to the steam until the volume increases by 30 percent.
Determine
a) the final temperature (oC),
b) the work done during this process (kJ), and
c) the total heat transfer (kJ).
Show the process on P-v and T-v diagrams with respect to saturation lines
[20 marks]

Figure 3

Question 4

a) Explain briefly the two methods of calculating the boundary work.

[6 marks]

b) A piston cylinder assembly contains 0.15 kg of air, initially at 100 kPa, 30oC. The air is now
compressed in a polytropic process, with polytropic index n of 1.25, until the final volume is 10% of
the initial volume. Determine,
i) the work done by the system (kJ), and
ii) the heat transfer to the surrounding (kJ).
Sketch the process on T-ν and P-ν diagram. For air take R = 0.2871 kJ/kg.K and Cp = 1.005 kJ/kg.K.
[14 marks]