CHAPTER 1

BASIC CONCEPTS OF
THERMODYNAMICS
LEARNING OUTCOMES OF CHAPTER 1
Students should have those
understandings of:
Applications of thermodynamics.
Basic consepts of system, energy,
properties, state, process and cycles.
Units and dimensions in SI (System
International).
2 important thermodynamic properties:
temperature (T) and pressure (P) and
how to measure them.
THERMODYNAMICS & ENERGY
Definition of thermodynamics (Greek
word):
The ability to convert heat to power.
All aspects of energy and energy transfer
including power production / generation,
refrigeration and property relation of
substances.
therme
(heat)
dynamics
(power)
BASIC LAWS OF
THERMODYNAMICS
1
st
Law of
Thermodynamics
(=Conservation of
Energy Principles)
2
nd
Law of
Thermodynamics
Energy can change from
one form to another
form with the amount
of the energy kept
constant
Energy has its quality
and quantity: a real
process occurs in the
decreasing quality of
energy.
APPLICATIONS AREAS OF
THERMODYNAMICS
Power plants
The human body
Air-conditioning
systems
Airplanes
Car radiators
Refrigeration systems
Power plants
The human body
Air-conditioning
systems
Airplanes
Car radiators
Refrigeration systems
Human
body
Air conditioner
/ heater
Car
radiator
Power Plants
Refrigeration
system
Airplanes
DIMENSIONS & UNITS
DIMENSIONS
(= measure of
physical quatity)
FUNDAMENTAL
/ PRIMARY
DIMENSIONS
DERIVED /
SECONDARY
DIMENSIONS
*
Mass (m), Length (L),
Time (t), Temperature
(T), Current (I) &
Amount of matter (mol)
Velocity (v), Energy (E),
Volume (V), Force (F),
Power (P), etc.
* Derived dimensions = combination of a few primary
dimensions. Eg: Velocity = Distance/Time = L/t
UNITS
(= magnitudes assigned
to the dimensions)
UNIT ASAS /
PRIMER
DERIVED /
SECONDARY
UNITS*
-accompany primary
dimensions
-accompany derived
dimensions
2 types of unit systems widely used:
i) English System / United States Customary
Systems (USCS)
ii) Metric System, SI (International System)
FUNDAMENTA
L / PRIMARY
UNITS
Differences of Unit Systems
Fundamnetal /
Derived Dimensions
SI Unit ES Unit
Mass (m) kg lbm, oz
Length (L) m ft, in
Time (t) s s
Temperature (T) K
o
C,
o
F, R
Ammount of
matter (mol)
kmol lb mol
Velocity (v) ms
-1
ft s
-1
Energy (E) J (Joule) Btu, cal
Volume (V) m
3
gal
Force (F) N (Newton) lbf
Power (P) W (Watt) hp
Pressure N/m
2
(Pascal) psia, psig
Standard prefixes in SI units
Prefix Multiple
tera, T 10
12
giga, G 10
9
mega, M 10
6
kilo, k 10
3
deci, d 10
-1
centi, c 10
-2
milli, m 10
-3
macro, 10
-6
nano, n 10
-9
pico, p 10
-12
Differences between SI and ES
1) Force (F) = Mass x acceleration
F = ma (kgms
-2
)
SI unit: newton (N). 1 N = force required to accelerate 1 kg
mass at a rate of 1 m/s
2
.
ES unit : pound-force (lbf). 1 lbf = force required to accelerate
32.174 lbm (pound-mass) at a rate of 1 ft/s
2
.
1 N = 1 kgms
-2
; 1 lbf = 32.174 lbm. ft/s
2
2) Weight (W) = a type of force W=mg (N)
Weight (W) = Mass (m)
(derived) (fundamental)
Mass of a body is constant, but its weight can change depending
on gravitational acceleration (g) that varies with the placement
of the body.
3) Work (W) = a form of energy = Force x Distance
1 N.m = 1 J SI unit
ES unit: Btu (British Thermal Unit). 1 Btu = energy required to
increase the temperature of 1 lbm of water at 68
o
F by 1
o
F.
Other unit : calorie (cal). 1 cal = energy required to increase
the temperature of 1 kg of water at 15
o
C by 1
o
C.
1 cal = 4.1868 J ; 1 Btu = 1.055 kJ
Dimensional Homogeneity
In engineering world, all equations must be dimensionally
homogeneous every term in an equation must have the
same unit.
1) Addition, Subtraction & Equality Operations
Eg : 4 s + 1.9 s \ - direct
1 kg + 2 lb \ - have to change to the same
2 m + 1.5 ft \ unit
10.6 N + 1.4 kgms
-2
?
2) Multiplication & Division Operations
Eg : N X m
2
= Nm
2
kg x m
2
= m
2
s
N x 1 ?
m
SYSTEMS
System = a quantity of matter or a region in
space chosen for study. It consists of:
Surroundings = mass or region outside the system.
Boundary = real or imaginary surface that separates
the system from its surroundings fixed or movable.
2 types of systems:
Closed systems / control mass
Open systems/ control volumes
CLOSED SYSTEMS
Also known as control mass.
Characteristics of closed systems:
Contains a fixed amount of mass and no mass
can cross its boundary.
Energy in the form of heat or work can cross
the boundary.
Volume of closed systems does not have to
be fixed.
In special case, when energy is not
allowed to cross the boundary of closed
systems isolated system.
2 common examples of closed systems:
Closed/rigid tank
Piston-cylinder device
CLOSED SYSTEMS
Mass cannot cross the
boundaries of a closed
system, but energy can
An example of closed system with
a moving boundary piston-
cylinder device
OPEN SYSTEMS
Also known as control volumes.
Characteristics of control volumes:
Both mass and energy can cross its boundary called as
boundary surface.
Its volume always fixed but its mass not necessarily
fixed.
Examples of control volumes:
Pumps, compressor, valves, heat exchangers, turbines.
Both mass and energy
can cross the
boundaries of control
volume
ENERGY
Exist in variable forms : heat, mechanical, kinetic,
potential, electric, magnetic, chemical and nuclear.
Definition: Energy = Force x Distance (Unit = N.m = J)
Total energy, E = amount of all forms of energies that
exist in a system.
Total energy based on a unit mass, e (kJ/kg):
Total energy can be divided into 2 groups:
1) Macroscopic energies related to motion and the influence
of some external effects such as gravity, magnetism,
electricity, surface tension, kinetic and potential energies.
2) Microscopic energies related to the molecular structure of
a system. Eg : chemical, nuclear, latent heat, sensible heat.
The sum of microscopic energies internal energy, U.
m
E
e
Microscopic Energy
The sum of microscopic energies internal
energy, U.
- Phase change of a system such as
liquid phase changes to gas phase.
- Atom bonding in a molecule in
chemical reactions.
- Strong bonds within the nucleus of
atoms.
Macroscopic Energy
2 main forms of macroscopic energies:
1) Kinetic energy a system possesses as a result of its
motion relative to some reference frame:
(kJ)
or, on a unit mass basis,
(kJ kg
-1
)
with, V = velocity of the system relative to a fixed
reference frame.
2) Potential energy a system possesses as a result of its
elevation in a gravitational field.
(kJ)
with, g = gravitational acceleration, z = elevation of the
gravity centre of a system.
Other forms of macroscopic energies:
gravity, magnetism, electricity, surface tension.
2
2
KE
mV
=
2
2
ke
V
=
mgz = PE
Total Energy
By ignoring the effects of gravity, magnetism,
electricity and surface tension, hence the total
energy is the sum of kinetic enery, potential
energy and internal energy:
(kJ)
or, on a unit mass basis,
(kJ kg
-1
)
Almost all closed systems remain stationary
(KE=PE=0) during a process (unless stated)
stationary systems. Hence, the change in total
energy of a stationary system is equal to the
change of its internal energy:
mgz U U E
mV
+ + = + + =
2
2
PE KE
gz u u e
V
+ + = + + =
2
2
pe ke
U E A A =
Summary of Total Energy
ENERGY TOTAL
E=U+KE+PE
Microscopic
energy
Macroscopic
energy
Internal energy
U
Kinetic energy, KE
Potential energy, PE
Summary of Systems
SYSTEMS
CLOSED
SYSTEMS
CONTROL
VOLUMES
Isolated systems
AE=0
Stationary systems
AKE=APE=0
PROPERTIES OF A SYSTEM
Any characteristic of a system property.
Eg of properties: pressure P, temperature T, volume V,
mass m, viscosity, thermal conductivity, thermal
expansion coefficient, elevation etc.
PROPERTY
Intensive
Property
Extensive
Property
-independent of the
mass of a system
Eg: Temperature T
Pressure P
Density
-depend on the size
of a system
Eg: Mass m
Volume V
Total Energy E
Definations of few properties
Density, = mass per unit volume.
(kgm
-3
)
Reciprocal of density specific volume, v (=volume per unit mass)
Relative density,
s
or specific gravity (SG) = ratio of the density
of a substance to the density of some standard substance at a
specified temperature (usually water at 4
o
C,
H2O
= 1000 kg/m
3)
.
All extensive properties per unit mass specific properties Eg:
Specific volume v=V/m
Specific total energy e=E/m
Specific internal energy u=U/m
V
m
=
O
2
H

s
SG = =
m
V
v = =

1
STATE & EQUILIBRIUM
For a system not undergoing any change, at this point
all the properties can be measured or calculated
throughout the entire system a set of properties
that completely describes the condition the state of
the system.
At a given state, all the properties of a system have
fixed values. If the value of even one property changes,
the state will change to a different state.
m = 2 kg
T
1
= 20
o
C
V
1
= 1.5 m
3
m = 2 kg
T
2
= 20
o
C
V
2
= 2.5 m
3
State 1 State 2
State
Equilibrium
The word equilibrium implies a state of balance. In an
equilibrium state there are no unbalanced potentials (or
driving forces) within the system experiences no
changes when it is isolated from its surroundings.
Types of equilibrium states:
thermal equilibrium if the temperature is the same
throughout the entire system.
Mechanical equilibrium if there is no change in pressure
at any point of the system with time.
Phase equilibrium when the mass of each phase reaches
an equilibrium level and stays there such as water and ice
inequilibrium.
chemical equilibrium if its chemical composition does not
change with time, that is, no chemical reactions occur.
A closed system achieves thermal equilibrium
Any change that a system undergoes from one equilibrium
state to another process, and the series of states
through which a system passes during a process the
process path.
When a process proceeds in an equilibrium state at all
times, it is called a quasi-equilibrium process can be
viewed as a sufficiently slow process that allows the
system to adjust itself internally so that properties in
one part of the system do not change any faster than
those at other parts.
PROCESS & CYCLES
Process
A compression process in a piston-cylinder device:
Processes in which one thermodynamic property is kept
constant:
Process Constant property
Isobaric pressure
Isothermal temperature
Isochoric/isometric volume
Isentropic entropy
Example of Process
Cycles
A system is said to have undergone a cycle if
it returns to its initial state at the end of
the process for a cycle the initial and
final states are identical.
Process A
Process B
1
2
P
V
PRESSURE
Pressure = normal force exerted by a
fluid per unit area.
Pressure only deals with gas or liquid.
Pressure in solids normal stress.
Unit SI : Pascal (Pa) = Nm
-2
English System : psi = lbf/in
2
(pound-
force per square inch), psia, psig. Other
units: bar, standard atmosphere (atm).
A
F
P =
=

Area
Force
Pressure
P
1
P
a
P
b
P
c
P
2
P
3
P
1
=P
2
=P
3
P
a
=P
b
=P
c
Pressure at any point in a fluid is the same in all
directions.
Pressure varies in vertical directions due to gravity
effects but does not vary in the horizontal directions.
Absolute pressure, Gage pressure
& Vacuum pressure
The actual pressure at a given position absolute pressure -
measured relative to absolute vacuum (i.e., absolute zero
pressure).
Most pressure-measuring devices are calibrated to read zero in
the atmosphere, and so they indicate the difference between the
absolute pressure and the local atmospheric pressure gage
pressure.
Gage pressure = Absolute pressure Atmospheric pressure
Pressures below atmospheric pressure vacuum pressures -
measured by vacuum gages that indicate the difference between
the atmospheric pressure and the absolute pressure:
Vacuum pressure = Atmospheric pressure Absolute pressure
Absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures are all positive quantities.
Must use absolute pressures in thermodynamic problems.
In ES unit, gage pressure and absolute pressure are
differentiated by their respective units:
psig (pounds force per square inch gage) and
psia (pounds force per square inch absolute),
but SI unit gives identical units.
Relation between absolute pressure,
gage pressure & vacuum pressure
P
vac
= P
atm
P
abs
(for P<P
atm
)
P
gage
= P
abs
P
atm
(for P>P
atm
)
Pressure-measuring devices
Manometer
Barometer
Bourdon Tube
Manometer
Consists of a glass or plastic U-tube containing one or
more fluids such as mercury, water, alcohol, or oil.
Measures small and moderate pressure differences.
The height of the fluid in the tube represents the
pressure difference between the system and the
surroundings of the manometer which is equal to the gage
pressure:
P
atm
gh P P P
atm 1
= = A
. m/s 9.8 on accelerati nal gravitatio g
tube, - U in the points o between tw fluid of height the
tube, manometer in the fluid the of density
tank, in the pressure gas
pressure, c atmospheri
2
1
atm
= =
=
=
=
=
h
P
P
gh P P
gh P P P

atm gas
atm 2 1
+ =
+ = =
Barometer
Measures atmospheric pressure,
hence atmospheric pressure also
known as barometric pressure.
Consists of a mercury-filled tube
inverted into a mercury container
that is open to the atmosphere.
Referring to Figure 1:
The height and cross-sectioanal
area of the tube does not affect
the height of the liquid in the
barometer tube (Figure 2).
tube. barometer in height mercury
, on accelerati nal gravitatio
density, mercury
tube, barometer of area sectional - cross A with,

to due Force A at ight Mercury we

atm
atm
atm
atm
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
h
g
gh P
A P ghA
A P W
P
Merkuri
A
1
A
2
A
3
Figure 2
Merkuri
A
C
B
h
h
P
at
m
W=ghA
Figure 1
Bourdon Tubes
Another type of commonly used
mechanical pressure
measurement device.
Consists of a hollow metal tube
bent like a hook whose end is
closed and connected to a dial
indicator needle.
Calibrated to read zero, so it
measures gage pressure.
Modern pressure sensors
pressure transducers - convert
the pressure effect to an
electrical effect such as a
change in voltage, resistance,
or capacitance.
smaller and faster, and they
can be more sensitive,
reliable, and precise
Types of Bourdon Tubes
TEMPERATURE
Temperature is one of the thermodynamic
properties - a measure of hotness or
coldness or the energy content of a body.
When heat is transferred to a body, E|
T|.
The temperature difference causes the heat
transfer from a hot body (with higher
temperature) to another cold body (with a
lower temperature).
Two bodies are in thermal equilibrium when
both of the bodies achieve similar
temperature.
Similar to pressure, temperature applied in
thermodynamic problems must be in absolute
units. Absolute temperature scale in SI unit is
Kelvin and Rankine in unit ES.
Temperature scales
Unit
Property
SI ES
Temperature
scale
o
C
o
F
Absolute
temperature scale
K R
Melting point 0
o
C 32
o
F
Boiling point 100
o
C 212
o
C
Relation between temperature scales:
T(
o
F) = 1.8T(
o
C) + 32 (
o
C to
o
F)
T(K) = T(
o
C) + 273.15 (
o
C to K)
T(R) = T(
o
F) + 459.67 (
o
F to R)
T(R) = 1.8T(K) (K to R)
Kelvin and Celcius
Magnitude for each part of
1 K and 1C is similar, the
same case with 1 R and 1F
(Figure 1).
And also,
Figure 1
A
A
T K T T
T T
T
= ( C + 273.15) - ( C + 273.15)
= C - C
= C
2 1
2 1

A A T R T F =

SYSTEMATIC PROBLEM SOLVING
Complicated thermodynamic problems can be solved by a systematic
approach.
The followings are the systematic steps that can be taken to solve
thermodynamic problems:
1. Read and understand the requirement of the problem.
2. Draw a realistic sketch of the physical system involved, and list the
relevant information on the figure. Indicate any energy and mass
interactions with the surroundings. List the given information on the
sketch. Also, check for properties that remain constant during a
process (such as temperature during an isothermal process), and
indicate them on the sketch.
3. State any appropriate assumptions and approximations made to
simplify the problem to make it possible to obtain a solution. Assume
reasonable values for missing quantities that are necessary. For
example, in the absence of specific data for atmospheric pressure, it
can be taken to be 1 atm.
4. Determine the unknown properties at known states necessary to solve
the problem from property relations or tables, and hence the phase
of the substance can be determined.
5. Determine the process and sketch the process on property figures
such as P-v or T-v.
6. Apply all the relevant basic physical laws and principles (such as the
conservation of mass), and reduce them to their simplest form by
utilizing the assumptions made.
7. Substitute the known quantities into the simplified relations and
perform the calculations to determine the unknowns.
8. Reasoning, verification and discussion: Check to make sure that the
results obtained are reasonable and intuitive, and verify the validity
of the questionable assumptions.