16

CHAPTER 1.  Introduction

Example 1.5
A team from Engineers Without Borders constructs a system to supply water to a
mountainside village located 1800 m above sea level from a spring in the valley below
at 1500 m above sea level.
(a) When the pipe from the spring to the village is full of water, but no water is flow-
ing, what is the pressure difference between the end of the pipe at the spring
and the end of the pipe in the village?
(b) What is the change in gravitational potential energy of a liter of water when it is
pumped from the spring to the village?
(c) What is the minimum amount of work required to pump a liter of water from the
spring to the village?

Solution 1.5
(a) Take the density of water as 1000 kg⋅m−3 and the acceleration of gravity as
9.8 m⋅s−2. By Eq. (1.1):
P = hρg = 300 m × 1000 ​kg·m​​ −3​ × 9.8 ​m·s​​ −2​ = 29.4 × ​10​​ 5​ ​kg·m​​ −1​⋅​s​ −2​​
​
Whence ​
​P = 29.4 bar​  or​   2940 kPa​​
(b) The mass of a liter of water is approximately 1 kg, and its potential-energy
change is:
Δ​E​ P​ = Δ(mzg) = mgΔz = 1 kg × 9.8 ​m·s​​ −2​ × 300 m = 2940 N·m = 2940 J​
​

(c) The minimum amount of work required to lift each liter of water through an
elevation change of 300 m equals the potential-energy change of the water. It is
a minimum value because it takes no account of fluid friction that results from
finite-velocity pipe flow.

1.8 HEAT

At the time when the principle of conservation of mechanical energy emerged, heat was
considered an indestructible fluid called caloric. This concept was firmly entrenched, and
it limited the application of energy conservation to frictionless mechanical processes. Such
a limitation is now long gone. Heat, like work, is recognized as energy in transit. A simple
example is the braking of an automobile. When its speed is reduced by the application of
brakes, heat generated by friction is transferred to the surroundings in an amount equal to the
change in kinetic energy of the vehicle.10
10Many modern electric or hybrid cars employ regenerative braking, a process through which some of the kinetic

energy of the vehicle is converted to electrical energy and stored in a battery or capacitor for later use, rather than
simply being transferred to the surroundings as heat.