ME201 Basic Engineering Thermodynamics

Dr. P. Parthasarathy

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

www.nitk.ac.in
NITK – National Institute of Technology Karnataka
India
 Thermodynamics:
 One of the most basic science and basic knowledge that all engineers should aquire.
 Thermodynamics is also an abstract subject and a student requires strong motivation for proper
understanding.
 Classical thermodynamics involves in describing the system has a whole rather than considering
intractions with individual particles.
 Properties like P & T are averaged over a large collection of molecules and atoms.
 Does not require a knowledge of the behavior of individual particles
 Thermodynamics involves in the study of interaction between energy and matter and provides some
fundemental laws of nature.
 All processes in universe involes in intraction between energy and matter and the thermodynamic
laws are universal in their application.

2 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Vocabulary of Thermodynamics
 To understand the language of thermodynamics we nned to understand the terminology right.
 System is region where we focus our attention (liquid tea in figure).
 Surrounding is the rest of the universe (air surrounding the tea cup).
 Universe = System + Surrounding. Boundary is an imaginary line between the system and the
surrounding.
 ‘Surrounding’ is the immediate neighborhood of the system (the part of the universe at large, with
which the system ‘effectively’ interacts).

3 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Vocabulary of Thermodynamics
 Energy and matter are the two things that can be added to a system.
 An open system is one to which you can add/remove matter (e.g. a open beaker to which we can
add water). When you add matter you also end up adding energy (which is contained in that matter).
 A system to which you cannot add matter is called closed. Though you cannot add/remove matter
to a closed system, you can still add/remove energy (you can cool a closed water bottle in fridge).
 A system to which neither matter nor heat can be added/removed is called isolated. A closed
vacuum ‘thermos’ flask can be considered as isolated.

4 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Vocabulary of Thermodynamics
 Matter is easy to understand and includes atoms, ions, electrons, etc.
 Energy may be transferred (‘added’) to the system as heat, electromagnetic radiation etc.
 In thremodynamics, the two modes of transfer of energy to the system considered are
Heat and Work.
 Heat and work are modes of transfer of energy and not ‘energy’ itself.
 Once inside the system, the part which came via work and the part which came via
heat, cannot be distinguished.
 Matter when added to a system brings along with it some energy. The ‘energy density’
(energy per unit mass or energy per unit volume) in the incoming matter may be higher
or lower than the matter already present in the system.

5 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Continuum concept
 As we have already seen that in classical thermodynamics, the properties shall
not be defined for individual particle.
 In order to define the properties associated with a thermodynamic system, the
continuum concept is applied.
 Homogeneous matter with no holes, that is, a continuum
 Most engineering problems are concerned with physical dimensions much
larger than the limiting volume that is required for continuum approch.

6 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Temperature
 We all have an abstract idea about temperature, but it has a deeper meaning.
 Our common prespective is that temperature is a measure of the ‘intensity of heat’. Energy in terms
of heat is transferred from a body at higher temperature to one at lower temperature.
 If two bodies are connected to eachother are have diabatic boundary between them, energy flow
from hot body to the cold irrespative of their composition and mass.
 Temperature has two important aspect in thermodymanics:
 it is a measure of the average kinetic energy (or velocity) of the constituent entities (say
molecules)
 it is the parameter which determines the distribution of species (say molecules) across
various energy states available.

7 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Absolute temperature
 In thermodynamics, it is very desirable to have a temperature scale that is
independent of the properties of any substance or substances.

8 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Pressure
 Pressure* is force per unit area (usually exerted by a fluid on a wall**).
 It is the momentum transferred (say on a flat wall by molecules of a gas) per unit area, per unit time. (In the case
of gas molecules it is the average momentum transferred per unit area per unit time on to the flat wall).
 P = momentum transferred/area/time.
 Pressure is related to momentum, while temperature is related to kinetic energy.

9 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Pressure (cont. )
 Actual pressure at a given position - Absolute pressure
 Most device consider atm. Pressure to be zero.
 Gauge pressure = Absolute pressure – atm. pressure
 Vacuum pressure = atm. Pressure – absolute pressure

10 Dr. P. Parthasarathy Departmant of Mechanical Engineering

Basic Engineering Thermodynamics National Institute of Technology Karnataka