Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering

MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

Chapter (2)

Properties of a Pure Substance

2.1 What is a Pure Substance?

It is a substance of a fixed chemical composition throughout, e.g. water
(H2O), nitrogen (N2), carbon Dioxide (CO2)
A pure substance does not have to be of a single element or component.
While a pure substance cannot be separated physically, the components of
a homogeneous mixture (uniform) can be separated through mechanical
and thermal processes such as distillation, sifting, filtering, and
crystallization.
o For instance: Air is a pure substance.
The chemical composition of air in percent by volume (sea level,
15C, 1 atm):
approx. 78% Nitrogen (N2)
approx. 21% Oxygen (O2)
approx. 0.9% Argon (Ar)
and other components (CO2, Ne, CH4, He,)
o But:
salted water is NOT a pure substance. It is a homogeneous
mixture.

(oil + water) is NOT a pure substance. It is a heterogeneous

mixture.

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Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

A mixture of two or more phases is considered as a pure substance if both

phases have the same chemical composition (The mixture is chemically
homogeneous).
o for instance, a mixture of water and ice is a pure substance;
o but a mixture of liquefied air + gaseous air is NOT a pure
substance. why?
The chemical composition of liquid air is different from that of the
gaseous air. This is due to different components in air condensing
at different temperatures at a specified pressure
o if, instead, pure nitrogen gas is liquefied and we have a mixture of
liquid and gaseous nitrogen, it is a pure substance.

36

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

2.2 Phases of a Pure Substance

A phase is identified by a distinct molecular structure and separated from
others by clear boundary surfaces:

(ice + water)
There are three principal phases:

Solid (copper)

Liquid (water)

Gas (helium)

All substances may exist at different phases under different conditions.

Note: A substance may have several phases (varieties) within a principal
phase. For example: carbon (graphite/diamond).
Theoretically, molecular structure is different for each of solid, liquid and
gas; molecules are packed for solid, but they are far apart from each other
for a gas.

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Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

2.3 Phase-change Process of a Pure Substance

T
P = const.
Compressed liquid
(liquid water)

Saturated liquid-vapor
mixture

Saturated liquid
water

5
Superheated water vapor
Saturated water vapor

38

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

From the pervious T-v diagram, notice the following:

State 1: water exists in the liquid phase, and it is called compressed liquid
or subcooled liquid meaning that it is not about to vaporize.
Process 1-2: water is heated up. As the temperature rises, the liquid water
expands slightly, and so its specific volume increases. To accommodate this
expansion, the piston moves up slightly.
State 2: water temperature reaches T =100C. At this point water is still a
liquid, but any further heat addition would cause some of the liquid to
vaporize (phase-change). A liquid that is about to vaporize is called a
saturated liquid. Therefore, state 2 is a saturated liquid state.
Process 2-4: water evaporation starts and continues at constant temperature,
this is a characteristic for all liquids. A substance at states between 2 and 4
is referred to as a saturated liquidvapor mixture. Once the phase-change
process is completed, we are back to a single-phase region again.
State 4: the entire cylinder is filled with vapor that is on the borderline of the
liquid phase. Any heat loss from this vapor would cause some of the vapor to
condense (phase change from vapor to liquid). A vapor that is about to
condense is called a saturated vapor. Therefore, state 4 is a saturated
vapor state.
After state 4, water vapor starts to absorb heat and the temperature starts to
go up; here water vapor is called a superheated water vapor.
REMEMBER:
1. the whole phase-change process takes place under constant pressure
2. we have one phase during process 1-2 (liquid), also one phase during
process 4-5 (vapor); but during the process 2-4, at any instant we have

39

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

two phases (a mixture of liquid & vapor under equilibrium conditions).

This process is called a phase-change process, where water keeps
changing its phase from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase (vapor).
3. At a given pressure, the temperature at which a pure substance changes
phase is called the saturation temperature Tsat
4. At a given temperature, the pressure at which a pure substance changes
phase is called the saturation pressure Psat
Water boils at 100 oC if the pressure P = 101.35 kPa; this is to
say that the temperature at which water starts boiling depends on
the pressure; the higher the pressure, the higher the boiling
temperature and vice versa.

40

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

2.4 Property Diagrams for Phase-change Processes at Various

Pressures
Developing and discussing T-V, P-V are given below for various pressures.
1- The T-v Diagram
If we increase pressure, water phase-change process will be similar with some
differences:
- water boils at higher temperature
- Specific volume of saturated liquid is larger and that of saturated
vapor is smaller; i.e. line connecting both is smaller.
- when pressure is further increased, this line gets shorter and shorter
till it becomes a point; called critical point.

T, oC
374.14

= 22.09 MPa
Const, > P2

Critical point

P2 = Const, > P1
P1 = Const

0.003155

V, m3/kg

41

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

The temperature, pressure and specific volume at this point are called critical
values. For water, these values are:
1. Tcr= 374.14oC
2. Pcr= 22.09 MPa
3. vcr= 0.003155 m3/kg
What is the critical point ?; It is the point at which the state of saturated
liquid and state of saturated vapor are identical.
Above Pcr, i.e. for P> Pcr we only have one phase present (gaseous
behavior)
Connecting the saturated liquid points (states) and the saturated vapor
points (states), we get what is called: T-v diagram of a pure substance

42

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

Now, the different regions on the T-v diagram are as illustrated in the
following figure

T
Superheated vapor

Tcr
Compressed
liquid

Saturated
liquid - vapor

v
2.5 Property Tables
For most substances, relations among thermodynamics properties are too
complex to be expressed by simple equations. Therefore, properties are mostly
presented in the form of tables.
v f = specific volume of saturated liquid
v g = specific volume of saturated vapor
v fg = difference between v g and v f ( v fg = v g - v f )

Enthalpy (H)

A combination property

Enthalpy, H

H = U+PV (kJ)

or

h = u + Pv (kJ/kg)

43

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

1-a) Table of saturated liquid and saturated vapor states

Properties are given in tables A-4 and A-5.
A-4 for a given temperature (Temperature table)
A-5 for a given pressure page (Pressure table)

1-b) Table of saturated liquid - vapor mixture

In the wet region where saturated mixture of liquid and vapor exists, we need to
know the properties of both PHASES in the mixture. To analyze the mixture, a
new property is defined in order to know how much is there in the mixture from
each phase;
The property is the QUALITY (dryness fraction), x
x

mass of vapor
total mass of mixture

i.e. x

mg
mt

mvapor
mtotal

, mt = mg + mf

The Quality, x
volume of mixture = V
volume of sat. liquid = Vf
volume of sat. vapor = Vg
V V f Vg

mt v m f v f mg vg

mt v mt mg v f mg vg
mt , v 1 x v f xvg

v v f x vg v f

44

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

v vf
vg v f

v vf
v fg

where v fg vg - v f

Similarly;
uav = uf +x ufg kJ/kg & hav = hf +x hfg kJ/kg

Remarks
Subscripts used in the table:
f saturated liquid
g saturated vapor
fg difference between saturated vapor & saturated liquid
i.e.;

vfg = vg - vf

for example!!

hfg enthalpy of vaporization

(amount of energy needed to vaporize a unit mass of saturated liquid at a
given pressure or temperature)

45

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

Example
A rigid tank contains 10 kg of steam at 90C. If 8 kg of the steam is in the liquid
form and the rest is in the vapor form, determine:
(a) the pressure in the tank and
(b) the volume of the tank.

Solution
(a) Pressure in the tank must be Psat at 90C; Read P = 70.183 kPa (Table A-4)
(b) volume of the tank: V= Vf + Vg = mf vf + mg vg
now, mf = 8 kg (given), mg = 10 - 8 = 2 kg
At Tsat = 90C, vg = 2.3593, vf = 0.001036 m3 /kg
Substitute in V-equation above V = 8(0.001036) +2(2.3593)
V= 4.73 m3

Other method
The quality of the mixture is

mg
m

2
0.2
10

The specific volume of the mixture is then:

v (1 x)v f xvg 0.8 * 0.001036 0.2 * 2.3593 0.473 m3 kg

By definition:
V m * v 0.473 *10 V 4.73m3

46

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

2- Tables of Superheated Vapor (Table A-6)

This is the region to the right of the saturated vapor line. Table A-6 is for
this region where properties are listed vs. temperature for selected pressure
values.
Superheated vapor is characterized by:
v, u and h > vg , ug and hg , at a given P or T

47

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

Example
Determine the temperature of water at a state of P= 0.5 MPa and h= 2890 kJ/kg

at P=0.5 MPa, Read (from table A-5);

hf = 640.09 kJ/kg & hg = 2748.1 kJ/kg
The given enthalpy is h=2890 kJ/kg > hg
we have superheated vapor as shown in the figure
T

0.5 MPa

hf

hg

48

h>hg

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

From superheated tables (A-6);

at 0.5 MPa; h= 2855.8 kJ/kg at 200C & h= 2961.0 kJ/kg at 250C

By linear interpolation T = 216.25C

3- Tables of Compressed Liquid (Table A-7)

Note: liquid vary with pressure very slightly.
If no data available for compressed liquid we use saturated liquid data at
same temperature v v f @ T

given

; u u f @T ; h h f @T
given

Compressed liquid is characterized by:

v, u and h < vf , uf and hf , at a given P or T

49

given

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

Example
Find the internal energy of water at 5 MPa and 200C.

Solution:
Table A-5: At P = 5000 kPa, Tsat = 263.94C.
Tgiven = 200C < Tsat , then water is subcooled (compressed liquid)

Table A-7: u = 847.92 kJ/kg

50

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

Other method
Compressed liquid:

Table A-4:

u u f @ 200C

u f @ 200C 850 .46 kJ / kg

2-6 Equation of State of an Ideal Gas

An ideal gas is defined as a hypothetical gas whose molecules are spaced far
apart so that the behavior of a molecule is not influenced by the presence of
other molecules.
A nonreacting mixture of ideal gases behave as an ideal gas. Air, for example, is
conveniently treated as an ideal gas in the range where nitrogen and oxygen
behave as ideal gases.
The P-v-T behavior of an ideal gas is expressed by the simple relation:

Pv RT
which is called the ideal-gas equation of state. Different forms:
PV mRT ;

PV NRuT ;

P absolute pressure in kPa

T absolute temperature in K

51

Pv RuT

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

v specific volume in m3/kg

R gas constant in kPa m3 /kg K or kJ/kg K:

Ru
M

Ru universal gas constant = 8.314 kJ/ kmol K

M it is mass of one mole of a substance in grams or it is mass of one kmol of
a substance in kg

m=MN

N mole number

v molar specific volume.

Example
Determine the mass of the air in a room whose dimensions are 4 m 5 m 6 m
at 100 kPa and 25 C.
Solution
Air (treated as ideal gas)
R = 0.287 kPa m3 /kg K
T= 25 + 273 = 298 K; V= 4 x 5 x 6 = 120 m3
PV=mRT

PV
(100)(120)

140.3kg
RT (0.287)(298)

52

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

Problems set # 2
(1)

Is iced water a pure substance? Why?

(2)

Is sweetened tea a pure substance? Explain.

(3)

Is it true that water boils at higher temperatures at higher pressures? Explain.

(4)

A housewife is cooking a dinner for her family in a pan which is (a) uncovered,
(b) covered with a light lid, and (c) covered with a heavy lid. For which case
will the cooking time be the shortest? Why?

(5)

Complete the following table for H2O:

T (C)
60
110
200
110

(6)

v (m3/kg)
3.25

Phase description
Saturated vapor

300
500

Complete the following table for H2O:

T (C)
110
250
90

(7)

P (kPa)

P (kPa)

u (kJ/kg)
2300

300
200
800

Phase description
Saturated liquid

Complete the following table for water:

T (C)
140
150

P (kPa)

u (kJ/kg)
631.68

53

v (m3/kg)

x
1

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

(8)

Complete the following table for H2O:

T (C)

P (kPa)
75

v (m3/kg)

150
350
(9)

h (kJ/kg)

Quality
0.0

Phase description

1600
Saturated vapor

Complete the following table for water:

T (C)

P (kPa)

h (kJ/kg)

200
140
80

Phase
description

0.7
1800

1000
400
600

0.0
3165.7

(10) Complete the following table for H2O:

T (C)

P (kPa)
325

160
80

h (kJ/kg)

x
0.4

Phase description

1682
950
500
800

0.0
3161.7

(11) A 400 liter tank contains a saturated mixture of steam and water at 300 oC.
Determine the mass of each phase if their volumes are equal.

54

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

(12) A rigid tank contains water vapor at 200oC and an unknown pressure. When
the tank is cooled to 150 oC , the water vapor starts condensing. (a) Calculate
the initial pressure in the tank, (b) show the process on the T-v diagram.
(13) A rigid tank of 5 m3 volume contains water at 95C. If 5.5 kg of the water is in
the vapor form and the rest is in the liquid form, determine
a. the pressure in the tank,
b. the quality, x
c. the internal energy (u) of the tank content
(14) A rigid tank contains 10 kg of water at 90 C. If 9 kg of the water is in the liquid
form and the rest is in the vapor form, determine (a) the pressure in the tank,
and (b) the volume of the tank.

(15)

A cooking pan whose inner diameter is 20 cm is filled with water and covered
with a 0.5-kg lid. If the local atmospheric pressure is 101 kPa, determine the
temperature at which the water will start boiling when it is heated.

55

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

(16) The pressure in an automobile tire depends on the temperature of the air in the
tire. When the air temperature is 25 C, the pressure gage reads 210 kPa. If
the volume of the tire is 0.025 m3, determine the pressure rise in the tire when
the air temperature in the tire rises to 50 C. Also, determine the amount of air
that must be bled off to restore pressure to its original value at this temperature.
Assume the atmospheric pressure to be 100 kPa.

(17) The air in an automobile tire with a volume of 0.03 m 3 is at 30C and 150 kPa
(gage). Determine the amount of air that must be added to raise the pressure
to the recommended value of 200 kPa (gage).

Assume the atmospheric

pressure to be 98 kPa and the temperature and volume to remain constant.

R=0.287 kJ/kg K for air.

56

Beirut Arab University

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MCHE-204 Foundation of Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2015-2016

(18) The pressure gage on a 0.8-m3 oxygen tank reads 200 kPa. Determine the
amount of oxygen in the tank if the temperature is 18 C and the atmospheric
pressure is 95 kPa.

(19) Oxygen is stored in a cylinder with a diameter of 20 cm and a height of 1m at a

pressure of 20 MPa and a temperature of 27oC. The oxygen is used until the
pressure reduces to 5 Mpa and the temperature stays constant.

Find the

amount of oxygen used in kg. R for oxygen is 0.2598 kJ/kg K..

(20) A 0.8-m3 tank contains 3 kg of oxygen at a temperature of 290 Kelvin.

Determine the reading of the pressure gage if the atmospheric pressure is 95
kPa.

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