Chapter: HEAT AND WORK

SEC 2: THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

• Illustrate how the first law of thermodynamics is a statement of energy

conservation.
• Calculate heat, work, and the change in internal energy by applying the first law of
thermodynamics.
• Apply the first law of thermodynamics to describe cyclic processes.

Vocabulary:

• cyclic process

Note 1:

Note 2: Change in system’s internal energy = energy transferred to or from

system as heat − energy transferred to or from system as work.



 Note 3:

Example 1.
A total of 135 J of work is done on a gaseous refrigerant as it undergoes compression.
If the internal energy of the gas increases by 114 J during the process, what is the
total amount of energy transferred as heat? Has energy been added to or removed
from the refrigerant as heat?

Solution:
DATA
FIND

W = −135 J
Q=?
∆U = 114 J

 FORMULA
SOLVE

Choose an equation or situation:

Substitute the values into the equation and solve:

Apply the rst law of thermodynamics using the

values for ∆U and W
Q = 114 J + (−135 J) = −21 J

in order to nd the value for Q.

Q = −21 J

∆U = Q − W

Rearrange the equation to isolate the unknown:

Q = ∆U + W

Practice Section 2
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