THERMODYNAMICS

PROBLEM SET
CONCEPT PROBLEMS

A car tire gauge indicates 195 kPa; what is the air pressure
inside?

The pressure you read on the gauge is a

gauge pressure, ∆P, so the absolute
pressure is found as

` P = Po + ∆P = 101 + 195 = 296 kPa

 CONCEPT PROBLEMS
A U tube manometer has the left branch connected to a box with a
pressure of 110 kPa and the right branch open. Which side has a
higher column of fluid?

Solution:
Since the left branch fluid surface feels
110 kPa and the right branch surface is
at 100 kPa you must go further down to
match the 110 kPa. The right branch
has a higher column of fluid.

A/N: MANOMETER-USE TO MEASURE THE PRESSURE OF GASES AND VAPORS

 CONCEPT PROBLEMS
Separate the list P, F, V, v, ρ, T, a, m, L, t, and V into intensive,
extensive, and non-properties.

Intensive properties are independent upon mass: P, v, ρ, T

Extensive properties scales with mass: V, m
Non-properties: F, a, L, t, V
CONCEPT PROBLEMS
An electric dip heater is put into a cup of water and heats it from 20 OC
to 80OC. Show the energy flow(s) and storage and explain what
changes.

Electric power is converted in the heater

element (an electric resistor) so it becomes hot
and gives energy by heat transfer to the water.
The water heats up and thus stores energy and
as it is warmer than the cup material it heats
the cup which also stores some energy. The
cup being warmer than the air gives a smaller
amount of energy (a rate) to the air as a
heat loss.
CONCEPT PROBLEMS
Water in nature exists in different phases such as solid, liquid and vapor (gas).
Indicate the relative magnitude of density and specific volume for the three
phases.

Water as solid (ice) has density of around 900 kg/m3

Water as liquid has density of around 1000 kg/m3
Water as vapor has density of around 1 kg/m3 (sensitive to P and T)
CONCEPT PROBLEMS

Can you carry 1 m3 of liquid water?

The density of liquid water is about 1000 kg/m 3 from.

Therefore the mass in one cubic meter is:

m = ρV = 1000 kg/m3 × 1 m3 = 1000 kg

and we can not carry that in the standard gravitational field.

CONCEPT PROBLEMS
Two divers swim at 20 m depth. One of them swims right in under a supertanker;
the other stays away from the tanker. Who feels a greater pressure?

Each one feels the local

pressure which is the static
pressure only a function of
depth.

Pocean= P0 + ∆P = P0 + ρgH

So they feel exactly the same

pressure.
 CONCEPT PROBLEMS

A manometer with water shows a ∆P of Po/10; what is the

column height difference?

∆P = Po/10 = ρHg

H = Po/(10 ρ g) = 101.3 × 1000 Pa10 × 997 kg/m3 × 9.80665 m/s2

= 1.036 m
CONCEPT PROBLEMS

What is the smallest temperature in degrees Celsius you

can have? Kelvin?

The lowest temperature is absolute zero

which is at zero degrees Kelvin at which
point the temperature in Celsius is
negative.

TK = 0 K = −273.15 oC
PROPERTIES AND UNITS
An apple “weighs” 60 g and has a volume of 75 cm3 in a refrigerator at 8OC. What
is the apple's density? List three intensive and two extensive properties of the
apple.
PROPERTIES AND UNITS
A steel cylinder of mass 2 kg contains 4 L of liquid water at 25OC at 200 kPa. Find
the total mass and volume of the system. List two extensive and three intensive
properties of the water. (Density of steel: ρ = 7820 kg/m 3)

Extensive properties:
m, V
Intensive properties:
ρ (or v = 1/ρ), T, P
PROPERTIES AND UNITS
A storage tank of stainless steel contains 7 kg of oxygen gas and 5 kg of nitrogen
gas. How many kmoles are in the tank? (MO = 31.999 ; MN = 28.013)
PROPERTIES AND UNITS
One kilopond (1 kp) is the weight of 1 kg in the standard
gravitational field. How many Newtons (N) is that?

F = ma = mg

1 kp = 1 kg × 9.807 m/s2 = 9.807 N

FORCE AND ENERGY
The “standard” acceleration (at sea level and 45° latitude) due to gravity is
9.80665 m/s2. What is the force needed to hold a mass of 2 kg at rest in this
gravitational field? How much mass can a force of 1 N support?
FORCE AND ENERGY
A steel piston of 2.5 kg is in the standard gravitational field where a force of 25 N
is applied vertically up. Find the acceleration of the piston.
 FORCE AND ENERGY
When you move up from the surface of the earth the gravitation is reduced as
g = 9.807 − 3.32 × 10-6 z, with z as the elevation in meters. How many percent
is the weight of an airplane reduced when it cruises at 11 000 m?

i.e. we can neglect that for most applications.

FORCE AND ENERGY
A model car rolls down an incline with a slope so the gravitational “pull” in the
direction of motion is one third of the standard gravitational force. If the car has
a mass of 0.06 kg find the acceleration.

ma = ∑ F = mg / 3

a = mg / 3m = g/3
= 9.80665 (m/s2) / 3
= 3.27 m/s2 g
FORCE AND ENERGY
A van drives at 60 km/h and is brought to a full stop with constant deceleration
in 5 seconds. If the total car and driver mass is 2075 kg find the necessary
force.
FORCE AND ENERGY
An escalator brings four people of total 300 kg, 25 m up in a building. Explain
what happens with respect to energy transfer and stored energy.

The four people (300 kg) have their

potential energy raised, which is
how the energy is stored. The
energy is supplied as electrical
power to the motor that pulls the
escalator with a cable.
FORCE AND ENERGY
A car of mass 1 775 kg travels with a velocity of 100 km/h. Find the kinetic
energy. How high should it be lifted in the standard gravitational field to have a
potential energy that equals the kinetic energy?
FORCE AND ENERGY
A 1 500-kg car moving at 20 km/h is accelerated at a constant rate of 4 m/s 2 up
to a speed of 75 km/h. What are the force and total time required?

F = ma = 1500 kg × 4 m/s2 = 6 000 N

FORCE AND ENERGY
On the moon the gravitational acceleration is approximately one-sixth that on the
surface of the earth. A 5-kg mass is “weighed” with a beam balance on the
surface on the moon. What is the expected reading? If this mass is weighed with a
spring scale that reads correctly for standard gravity on earth, what is the reading?
FORCE AND ENERGY
The escalator cage in Problem 2.6 has a mass of 500 kg in addition to the
people. How much force should the cable pull up with to have an acceleration of
1 m/s2 in the upwards direction?

The total mass moves upwards with an

acceleration plus the gravitations acts
with a force pointing down.

ma = ∑ F = F – mg
F = ma + mg = m(a + g)
= (500 + 300) kg × (1 + 9.81) m/s2
= 8648 N
FORCE AND ENERGY
A bottle of 12 kg steel has 1.75 kmole of liquid propane. It accelerates
horizontal with 3 m/s2, what is the needed force?

m = msteel + mpropane
= 12 + (1.75 × 44.094) = 90.645 kg

ma = ∑ F ⇒
F = ma = 90.645 kg × 3 m/s2 = 271.9 N
 SPECIFIC VOLUME
A 15-kg steel gas tank holds 300 L of liquid gasoline, having a density of 800 kg/m 3.
If the system is decelerated with 2g what is the needed force?

m = mtank + mgasoline
= 15 kg + 0.3 m3 × 800 kg/m3
= 255 kg

F = ma = 255 kg × 2 × 9.81 m/s2

= 5003 N
SPECIFIC VOLUME
A power plant that separates carbon-dioxide from the exhaust gases
compresses it to a density of 110 kg/m3 and stores it in an un-minable coal
seam with a porous volume of 100 000 m3. Find the mass they can store.

m = ρ V = 110 kg/m3 × 100 000 m3 = 11 × 10 6 kg

A/N: Just to put this in perspective a power plant that generates 2000 MW by
burning coal would make about 20 million tons of carbon-dioxide a year. That is
2000 times the above mass so it is nearly impossible to store all the carbon-dioxide
being produced.
SPECIFIC VOLUME
A 1 m3 container is filled with 400 kg of granite stone, 200 kg dry sand and 0.2 m 3
of liquid 25°C water. Find the average specific volume and density of the masses
when you exclude air mass and volume. (Note: specific volume (v) is the inverse
of density (ρ). )

mliq = Vliq/vliq = Vliq ρliq

= 0.2 m3 × 997 kg/m3 = 199.4 kg
mTOT = mstone + msand + mliq
= 400 + 200 + 199.4 = 799.4 kg

Vstone = mv = m/ρ = 400 kg/ 2750 kg/m3 = 0.1455 m3

Vsand = mv = m/ρ = 200/ 1500 = 0.1333 m3
VTOT = Vstone + Vsand + Vliq
= 0.1455 + 0.1333 + 0.2 = 0.4788 m3
SPECIFIC VOLUME
A 1 m3 container is filled with 400 kg of granite stone, 200 kg dry sand and 0.2 m 3
of liquid 25°C water. Find the average specific volume and density of the masses
when you exclude air mass and volume. (Note: specific volume (v) is the inverse
of density (ρ). )

v = VTOT / mTOT
= 0.4788/799.4
= 0.000599 m3/kg

ρ = 1/v = mTOT/VTOT
= 799.4/0.4788
= 1669.6 kg/m3
SPECIFIC VOLUME
One kilogram of diatomic oxygen (O2 molecular weight 32) is contained in a 500-L
tank. Find the specific volume on both a mass and mole basis (v and v ).
SPECIFIC VOLUME
A tank has two rooms separated by a membrane. Room A has 1 kg air and
volume 0.5 m3, room B has 0.75 m3 air with density 0.8 kg/m3. The membrane is
broken and the air comes to a uniform state. Find the final density of the air.
Density is mass per unit volume.

m = mA + mB = mA + ρBVB
= 1 + 0.8 × 0.75 = 1.6 kg

V = VA + VB = 0.5 + 0.75 = 1.25 m3

SPECIFIC VOLUME
A 5 m3 container is filled with 900 kg of granite (density 2400 kg/m3 ) and the
rest of the volume is air with density 1.15 kg/m3. Find the mass of air and the
overall (average) specific volume.

A/N: Because the air and the granite are not mixed or evenly distributed in
the container the overall specific volume or density does not have much
meaning.
PRESSURE
The hydraulic lift in an auto-repair shop has a cylinder diameter of 0.2 m. To what
pressure should the hydraulic fluid be pumped to lift 40 kg of piston/arms and
700 kg of a car?
Force acting on the mass by the gravitational field:
F↓ = ma = mg = 740 × 9.80665 = 7256.9 N = 7.257 kN

Force balance: F↑ = ( P - P0 ) A = F↓ => P = P0 + F↓ / A

PRESSURE
A valve in a cylinder has a cross sectional area of 11 cm2 with a pressure of 735
kPa inside the cylinder and 99 kPa outside. How large a force is needed to open
the valve?
PRESSURE
A hydraulic lift has a maximum fluid
pressure of 500 kPa. What should the
piston-cylinder diameter be so it can
lift a mass of 850 kg?
PRESSURE
A laboratory room keeps a vacuum of 0.1 kPa.
What net force does that put on the door of size 2
m by 1 m?

F = Poutside A – Pinside A
= ∆P A = 0.1 kPa × 2 m × 1 m
= 200 N

Remember that kPa is kN/m2.

PRESSURE
A vertical hydraulic cylinder has a 125-mm diameter piston with hydraulic fluid
inside the cylinder and an ambient pressure of 1 bar. Assuming standard gravity,
find the piston mass that will create a pressure inside of 1500 kPa.

Force balance:
F↑ = PA = F↓ = P0A + mpg; P0 = 1 bar = 100 kPa
A = (π/4) D2 = (π/4) × 0.1252 = 0.01227 m2
PRESSURE
A piston/cylinder with cross sectional area of 0.01 m2 has a piston
mass of 100 kg resting on the stops, as shown in the figure. With an
outside atmospheric pressure of 100 kPa, what should the water
pressure be to lift the piston?
The force acting down on the piston comes from gravitation and the
outside atmospheric pressure acting over the top surface.

Force balance: F↑ = F↓ = PA = mpg + P0A

Now solve for P (divide by 1000 to convert to kPa for 2nd term)
PRESSURE
A cannon-ball of 5 kg acts as a piston in a cylinder of 0.15 m diameter. As the
gun-powder is burned a pressure of 7 MPa is created in the gas behind the ball.
What is the acceleration of the ball if the cylinder (cannon) is pointing horizontally?

The cannon ball has 101 kPa on the side facing the atmosphere.
ma = F = P1 × A − P0 × A = (P1 − P0 ) × A
= (7000 – 101) kPa × π ( 0.152 /4 ) m2 = 121.9 kN
 PRESSURE
Repeat the previous problem for a cylinder (cannon) pointing 40 degrees up
relative to the horizontal direction.

ma = F = ( P1 - P0 ) A - mg sin 400
ma = (7000 - 101 ) kPa × π × ( 0.152 / 4 ) m2- 5 × 9.807 × 0.6428 N
= 121.9 kN - 31.52 N = 121.87 kN
PRESSURE
A large exhaust fan in a laboratory room keeps the pressure inside at 10 cm
water relative vacuum to the hallway. What is the net force on the door
measuring 1.9 m by 1.1 m? (1 m H2O is 9.80638 kPa and kPa is kN/m2.)

The net force on the door is the difference between the forces on the two
sides as the pressure times the area

F = Poutside A – Pinside A = ∆P × A
= 10 cm H2O × 1.9 m × 1.1 m
= 0.10 × 9.80638 kPa × 2.09 m2
= 2049 N
PRESSURE
A tornado rips off a 100 m2 roof with a mass of 1000 kg. What is the minimum
vacuum pressure needed to do that if we neglect the anchoring forces?

The net force on the roof is the difference between the forces on the two
sides as the pressure times the area:
F = Pinside A – PoutsideA = ∆P A

That force must overcome the gravitation mg, so the balance is

∆P A = mg
∆P = mg/A = (1000 kg × 9.807 m/s2 )/100 m2 = 98 Pa = 0.098 kPa

Remember that kPa is kN/m2.

PRESSURE
A 2.5 m tall steel cylinder has a cross sectional area of 1.5 m2. At the bottom with a
height of 0.5 m is liquid water on top of which is a 1 m high layer of gasoline. This
is shown in the figure. The gasoline surface is exposed to atmospheric air at 101
kPa. What is the highest pressure in the water?
The pressure in the fluid goes up with the depth as
P = Ptop + ∆P = Ptop + ρgh

and since we have two fluid layers we get

P = Ptop + [(ρh)gasoline + (ρh)water] g

The densities are:

ρgasoline = 750 kg/m3; ρwater = 997 kg/m3
PRESSURE
What is the pressure at the bottom of a 5 m tall column of fluid with atmospheric
pressure 101 kPa on the top surface if the fluid is (a) water at 20°C (b) glycerine 25°C or
(c) gasoline 25°C ? (Note: ρH2O = 997 kg/m3; ρGlyc = 1260 kg/m3; ρgasoline = 750 kg/m3)

∆P = ρgh P = Ptop + ∆P

a) ∆P = ρgh = 997× 9.807× 5 = 48 888 Pa

P = 101 + 48.99 = 149.9 kPa

b) ∆P = ρgh = 1260× 9.807× 5 = 61 784 Pa

P = 101 + 61.8 = 162.8 kPa

c) ∆P = ρgh = 750× 9.807× 5 = 36 776 Pa

P = 101 + 36.8 = 137.8 kPa
PRESSURE
A steel tank of cross sectional area 3 m2 and 16 m tall weighs
10 000 kg and it is open at the top. We want to float it in the
ocean so it sticks 10 m straight down by pouring concrete into
the bottom of it. How much concrete should I put in?
The force up on the tank is from the water
pressure at the bottom times its area. The
force down is the gravitation times mass and
the atmospheric pressure.

F↑ = PA = (ρoceangh + P0)A
F↓ = (mtank + mconcrete)g + P0A
The force balance becomes:

F↑ = F↓ = (ρoceangh + P0)A = (mtank + mconcrete)g + P0A

 PRESSURE
A steel tank of cross sectional area 3 m2 and 16 m tall weighs
10 000 kg and it is open at the top. We want to float it in the
ocean so it sticks 10 m straight down by pouring concrete into
the bottom of it. How much concrete should I put in?

Solve for the mass of concrete:

mconcrete = (ρoceanhA - mtank) = 997 × 10 × 3 – 10 000 = 19 910 kg

A/N: The first term is the mass of the displaced ocean water. The net force
up is the weight (mg) of this mass called bouyancy, P0 cancel.
PRESSURE
A piston, mp= 5 kg, is fitted in a cylinder, A = 15 cm2, that contains a gas. The
setup is in a centrifuge that creates an acceleration of 25 m/s 2 in the direction of
piston motion towards the gas. Assuming standard atmospheric pressure outside
the cylinder, find the gas pressure.
Force balance: F↑ = F↓ = P0A + mpg = PA
PRESSURE
A piston, mp= 5 kg, is fitted in a cylinder, A = 15 cm2, that contains a gas. The
setup is in a centrifuge that creates an acceleration of 25 m/s 2 in the direction of
piston motion towards the gas. Assuming standard atmospheric pressure outside
the cylinder, find the gas pressure.
PRESSURE
A piston, mp= 5 kg, is fitted in a cylinder, A = 15 cm2, that contains a gas. The
setup is in a centrifuge that creates an acceleration of 25 m/s 2 in the direction of
piston motion towards the gas. Assuming standard atmospheric pressure outside
the cylinder, find the gas pressure.