Cairo University CHEN101

Faculty of Engineering Physical Chemistry 1

Chemical Eng. Dept Fall 2020

Sheet 1
Introduction

1. Gravity is given by g = 9.81 - 3.32 X 10-6h m/s2, where h is the height above sea level.
An airplane is traveling at 900 km/h at an elevation of 10 km. If its weight at sea level
is 40 kN, determine:
a) Its kinetic energy
b) Its potential energy relative to sea level .
Ans. (a) 127.4 MJ (b) 399.3 MJ
2. A gas is confined in a 0.47 m diameter cylinder by a piston, on which rests a weight.
The mass of the piston and weight together is 150 kg. The local acceleration of
gravity is 9.813 m/s2, and the atmospheric pressure is 101.57 kPa.
a) What is the force in Newton exerted on the gas, assuming no friction between
the piston and the cylinder? (Ans. 19 kN)
b) What is the pressure of the gas in kPa? (Ans. 110 kPa)
c) If the gas in the cylinder is heated, it expands, pushing the piston and weight
upward. If the piston and weight are raised 0.83 m, what is the work done by the gas
in kJ? What is the change in potential energy of the piston and weight?
(Ans. -15.8 kJ, 1.22 kJ)
3. A 10-kg body falls from rest, with negligible interaction with its surroundings (no
friction). Determine its velocity after it falls 5 m . (Ans. 9.9 m/s)

4. Define the system type in each of the following cases and draw the process on P – v
diagram:
a. A vertical cylinder fitted with a piston contains 5 kg of R-410a at 10◦C. Heat is
transferred to the system, causing the piston to rise until it reaches a set of stops, at
which point the volume has doubled. Additional heat is transferred until the
temperature inside reaches 50◦C, at which point the pressure inside the cylinder is
1.4 MPa.
b. A vessel fitted with a piston contains an ideal gas initially at 70°C and 1 bar. It is
compressed adiabatically to 150°C (1→2) then cooled at constant pressure from
150°C to 70°C (2→3). Finally, the gas is expanded at constant temperature to a
final pressure of 1 bar (3→1) completing a cycle.

c. Steam at 3MPa, 300°C leaves the boiler and enters the high-pressure turbine and
is expanded to 300 kPa and 150°C. The steam is then reheated in an isobaric
process to 300°C and expanded in the second stage turbine to 10kPa and 80°C.