H3: MEASUREMENT OF FOR GASES

Experiment Objective
γ, which is an important parameter in thermodynamics, is the ratio of the specific heats of a gas at
constant pressure (Cp) and constant volume (Cv), that is:
𝐶𝐶𝑝𝑝
𝛾𝛾 =
𝐶𝐶𝑣𝑣
The aim of this experiment is to measure the values of γ for air, monatomic, diatomic and polyatomic
gases, and to investigate adiabatic and isothermal processes in thermodynamics.

Related Theory
Heat dQ1, absorbed by a mass m of ideal gas at constant volume, increases temperature T of the
gas, that is:
𝑑𝑑𝑄𝑄1 = 𝑚𝑚𝐶𝐶𝑣𝑣 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
where dT is the temperature rise.
However, heat absorbed by the gas at constant pressure is used partly to raise the temperature and
partly to do the work against the external pressure. The gas does this work due to the thermal
expansion when the heat is absorbed by the gas.
Therefore, to achieve the same temperature rise in a given mass of gas in the case of constant
pressure, the heat supplied must be greater, that is:
𝑑𝑑𝑄𝑄2 = 𝑚𝑚𝐶𝐶𝑝𝑝 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
and
𝑑𝑑𝑄𝑄2 > 𝑑𝑑𝑄𝑄1
Therefore,
𝐶𝐶𝑝𝑝 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑2
𝛾𝛾 ≡ = >
𝐶𝐶𝑣𝑣 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑1
The values of γ may be different for different gasses. For example, for monatomic gasses (such as
helium, argon, etc.) γ ≈ 1.67, for diatomic gases (such as oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) γ = 1.4, for
polyatomic gasses (such as CO2, NH4, etc.) γ ≈ 1.33.

Suppose that a gas undergoes a process of expansion or compression. Then, if the gas is expanded,
its temperature decreases. On the contrary, if the gas is compressed, its temperature is increased.
When the process of expansion or compression is slow enough, variations of the temperature of the
gas are negligible, because heat conduction tends to equal the temperature of the gas with the
temperature of surrounding media (room temperature). On the other hand, if the process of
expansion or compression is quick enough, then there is not enough time for the thermal
equilibrium to be established, heat conduction (or heat transfer to or from the gas) can be
neglected, and the temperature of the gas can vary significantly.

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A process that undergoes at constant temperature is called isothermal process, and a process in
which heat conduction between the gas and surrounding media can be neglected is called adiabatic
process.
In an adiabatic expansion or compression from a volume V1 and pressure p0 to a volume V2 and
pressure pa, it may be shown that:
𝛾𝛾 𝛾𝛾
𝑝𝑝0 𝑉𝑉1 = 𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑎 𝑉𝑉2 (1)
This equation describes an adiabatic process, that is, it relates pressure and volume of gas during an
adiabatic compression or expansion.
Similarly, in an isothermal expansion or compression of the same amount of gas from a volume V1
and pressure p0 to a volume V2 and pressure pi, it may be shown that:

𝑝𝑝1 𝑉𝑉1 = 𝑝𝑝2 𝑉𝑉2 (2)

γ
Equation (1) means that during adiabatic process the product pV is constant:
𝑝𝑝𝑉𝑉 𝛾𝛾 = const. (3)
Similarly, Equation (2) means that for isothermal process the product pV is constant:
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = const. (4)
Taking logarithm of Equation (3), we obtain:
𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙(𝑝𝑝) + 𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾(𝑉𝑉) = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙(𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐. ) (5)
To reduce the volume of gas (compress it) we need to do some work on this gas. The value of this
work W is determined by an area under the curve p(V) in a p-V diagram, that is on the graph in
which pressure p is put along the vertical axis, and volume V - along the horizontal axis:

Figure 1. The p-V diagram for an isothermal process.

The work done on the gas during its compression from point B to point A is equal to the area of the
figure ABCD.

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Experiment Instructions
1. Make sure that all elements of the apparatus are connected (pressure sensor is connected to the
analog channel A, volume sensor to the analog channel B of the Science WorkshopTM 850
Interface, which should also be connected to the computer).

2. In the Program Manager on the computer, go to Capstone. Double click on the Capstone icon.
Click on File + open. Double click on the file h3a.cap.

3. Fill the gas cylinder with air. To do this, open one of the gas cocks (for example, the right cock) at
the bottom of the cylinder and close the other. Remove the piston excursion limit pins so the
range of volumes is maximal (approximately 16 to 6). With the piston down, fill the cylinder with
air by pulling the piston up to the maximum volume of the gas. Shut the incoming gas cock off
and exhaust through the second gas cock. Close the exhaust cock and re-fill the cylinder with the
air. Repeat this process at least nine more times, ending with the full cylinder (make sure that
the piston is in the upmost position). Shut both the gas cocks before performing the
experiments. If during the experiment some gas escapes, simply add more.

4. Click on ‘Rec’ on the computer display and quickly compress the gas in the cylinder so that the
piston moves to the lowest possible position within about 1 second or less. Holding the piston in
the lowest possible position click on ‘Stop’ on the computer display. Pull the piston back to the
upmost position.

5. In the table on the screen, you will be given values of pressure in the cylinder (in kPa) versus
volume (in cm3) and temperature (in deg °C). Use only readings that correspond to decreasing
volume (there must be about 8 – 15 such readings).

6. The relationship between p and V is not linear (see equation (5)). Find a way of plot-ting the (p,V)
data so that a straight line is obtained and use it to determine the value of γ for the air. Estimate
the uncertainty of γ.

7. Delete Run#1 Data from the computer.

8. Repeat points 2) – 6) for argon, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

NOTE: The flow of the gas into the cylinder must be kept at low level to avoid breaking the wire of
the temperature sensor!

9. Compare the measured values of γ for these gasses with the theoretical values. Comment on the
results.

10. For the last gas used, before deleting Run#1 Data, compress the gas once again, but this time

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 H3: MEASUREMENT OF FOR GASES

slowly within about 30 - 40 seconds. Make sure that the temperature variations in the third
column in the table on the computer are not more than ~ 10 °C (that is, the process is
approximately isothermal).

11. Copy or re-draw the annotated graph (p-V diagram) from the computer for the two processes –
adiabatic and isothermal.
Questions
Report answers of these questions.

 Question 1
Why is the curve p(V) for the isothermal compression is lower than the similar curve
for the adiabatic compression? Comment on the values of work required for
compression of the gas adiabatically and isothermally; how do they compare? How is it
possible to determine the work from the printed p-V diagram?
Question 2
For dry air γ = 1.4, but for moist air it is smaller: γ ~ 1.3. Suggest the reason for this
difference.

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