UNIVERSITY OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

B.A.Sc. Utilities Engineering

January 12, 2009

CCTD101B Engineering Thermodynamics (Tutorial 1)

Basic Concepts and Definitions
1.

What do you understand by the following terms:

System; system boundary; control volume; control surface; property; state; process; path of
a process; thermodynamic cycle.

2.

For analyzing each of the listed events, specify the kind of system you would use and
sketch the system boundary, showing any flow of matter:
(a)
Inflating a bicycle tyre with a hand pump.
(b)
Cooling the power supply of a desktop computer.
(c)
The change in the size of a toy balloon left in the sun.
(d)
The change in air pressure within a sealed package as temperature changes.
(e)
Cooling an electric power distribution transformer by spraying water on it

3.

Specify whether the following properties are intensive or extensive:

Mass; weight; volume; velocity; density; energy; specific weight; strain; pressure;
temperature; surface area; elevation; potential energy; stress.

4.

The specific volume of a gas is 1.5 m 3/kg. What volume does 7.5 kg occupy? What is the
density of the gas? (Ans.: 11.25 m3; 0.67 m3/kg)

5.

A tank with a volume of 0.85 m3 contains 16 kg of gas. Determine the specific volume.
Calculate the final specific volume and the final density of the gas remaining in the tank after
13 kg of gas escapes. (Ans.: 0.053 m3/kg; 0.283 m3/kg; 3.53 kg/m3)

6.

A pressure gauge connected to a tank reads 380 kPa while the barometer reads 745 mmHg.
What is the absolute pressure in the tank? (Ans.: 479.3 kPa)

7.

At the inlet and exhaust of a turbine the absolute steam pressures are 6000 kN/m 2 and 4.0
cmHg, respectively. Barometric pressure is 75 cmHg. Calculate the gauge pressure for the
steam entering and the vacuum gauge pressure for the exhaust steam. (Ans.: 5900 kPa;
94.7 kPa)

8.

The height of a mercury manometer column that is used to measure a vacuum is 700 mm,
and the local barometer reading is 95 kPa. Calculate the absolute pressure that is being
measured, assuming that the density of mercury is 13,600 kg/m 3. (take g = 9.807 m/s2).
(Ans.: 1.64 kPa)

9.

The level of the water in an enclosed water tank is 40 m above ground level. The pressure
in the air space above the water is 120 kPa, and the density of the water is 1,000 kg/m 3.
What is the water pressure at ground level? (Ans.: 512.3 kPa)

CCTD101B Tutorial 1 Basic Concepts and Definitions

10.

A mercury manometer is used to determine the pressure in the condenser of a steam plant.
The reading of the manometer was 68.5 cm vacuum (i.e. below atmosphere pressure) when
the atmosphere was 76.2 cm of mercury. Given that the specific gravity of mercury is 13.6
and that the density of water 1,000 kg/m3, determine the absolute pressure in the condenser.
Take g = 9.807 m/s2. (Hint: specific gravity = density/density of water). (Ans.: 10.27 kPa)

11.

How is the concept of temperature defined? State the Zeroth law of thermodynamics.

12.

A gas with a density of 0.232 kg/m 3 flows at a velocity of 280 m/s through a cross sectional
area of 0.00850 m2. Determine the mass rate of flow. (Ans.: 0.552 kg/s)

13.

Air entering a diesel engine passes through a filter that prevents dusts from reaching the
engine. The pressure drop through the filter affects the engine performance. Evaluate the
idea of modeling the filter as a steady flow system.

14.

Liquid sulphur dioxide with a density of 1394 kg/m 3 enters an expansion valve at a rate of
40.0 kg/h with a velocity of 0.38 m/s. the sulphur dioxide partially vaporizes as it passes
through the valve so that it leaves with a density of 11.9 kg/m 3. Inlet and outlet areas are
equal, and the flow is steady. Calculate the outlet area and the outlet velocity. (Ans.: 0.21
cm2, 44.7 m/s)

15.

Atmospheric air at 300C with a density of 1.12 kg/m 3 enters an air conditioning unit through a
cross sectional area of 0.060 m 2 with a velocity of 10.0 m/s. water is removed from the air
and leaves the air conditioning unit as a liquid at a rate of 45.5 kg/h. air leaving the unit is at
150C with a density of 1.21 kg/m3. The discharge cross sectional area is 0.075 m2.
Determine the velocity of the air leaving. (Ans.: 7.3 m/s)

16.

Water flows through the venturi meter shown in the figure. The pressure difference between
the upstream section 1 and the throat section 2 is indicated by the deflection of the
manometer that contains mercury and of course, water. Determine the flow rate. Use the
specific gravity of mercury as 13.6. (Use Bernoullis principle p (1 / 2) v 2 constant)(Ans.:
1.85 kg/s)

oooOooo

CCTD101B Tutorial 1 Basic Concepts and Definitions