Applied Physics (PHY-00105) 1st Semester

LAB EXPERIMENT NO.13

First law of Thermodynamics

Student Name: Barkat Ali_____________ Roll No:21

Lab Instructor Signatures: Date: 09 February, 2022

Objective

Verify the first law of thermodynamics.

Apparatus

 Balloon
 Plastic bottle
 Water
 Container
Theory

Every time you drive a gasoline-powered car, turn on an air conditioner, or cook a meal, you reap the benefits
of thermodynamics, the study of relationships involving heat, mechanical work, and other aspects of energy
and energy transfer.
The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can be converted from one form to another with the
interaction of heat, work and internal energy but it can neither be created nor destroyed, under any
circumstances. Mathematically, this is represented as
1st law of Thermodynamics
∆U= q - w (13.1)
where
 ∆U is the total change in internal energy of a system,
 q is the heat exchanged between a system and surroundings, and
 q is positive if the heat added to the system
 w is positive if work is done by the system
 q is negative if heat leaves the system
 w is negative if work is done on the system

The internal energy of a system would decrease if the system gives off heat or does work. Therefore, internal
energy of a system increases when the heat increases (this would be done by adding heat into a system). The
internal energy would also increase if work were done onto a system. Any work or heat that goes into or out
of a system changes the internal energy. However, since energy is never created nor destroyed (thus, the first
law of thermodynamics), the change in internal energy always equal to zero.

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 Applied Physics (PHY-00105) 1st Semester

If energy is lost by the system, then it is absorbed by the surroundings. If energy is absorbed into a system,
then that energy was released by the surroundings. The first law of thermodynamics is the application of the
conservation of energy, principle of heat and thermodynamic processes. It can be demonstrated as;
Take an empty container put a plastic bottle inside the container. Cover its lid with a balloon as shown in Fig
13.1. Pour boiling water inside the container as shown in Fig 13.2. As the boiling water will be poured inside
the container, the balloon will expand as indicated by Fig 13.3. The balloon will expand because when hot
water is added into the container, heat transferred from the surrounding (hot water) to the system (the air
inside the bottle and balloon). Before the system manage to transform the heat input into work, it is stored
inside the system as internal energy.
System: the air inside the bottle and balloon surroundings (hot water) has higher temperature.

1. Procedure
1. Put a plastic bottle inside a container. Remove the lid of plastic bottle and attach a balloon as shown in Fig
13.1.
2. Pour the boiling water inside the container as shown in Fig 13.2.
3. Observe the result in balloon as shown in Fig 13.3.

Figure 13.1: Container without water Figure 13.2: Container with water Figure 13.3: Heat
transferred inside balloon

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Questions
1. What are the two ways that energy can be transferred between a system and its surrounding?

Answer:

The two ways that can transfer energy between the system and surrounding are:

o Doing work
o By heat transfer

2. One gram of water becomes steam when boiled at a constant pressure of 1 atm. The heat of vaporization
2256J is added to the system and 169J of work is done by the system. What is the change in internal
energy of the system?

Answer:
One gram of water 1 cm3 becomes 1671 cm3 of steam when boiled at a constant pressure of 1 atm
1.013xx105Pa. The heat of vaporization at this pressure is `L_v=2.256xx106jkg -1`. Compute the work done by
the water when it vaporizes and its increase in internal energy.

3. Explain how first law of thermodynamics helps to reduce weight loss?

Answer:
Reduced thermodynamic efficiency will result in increased weight loss. The laws of thermodynamics are
silent on the existence of variable thermodynamic efficiency in metabolic processes. Therefore such
variability is permitted and can be related to differences in weight lost.

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