Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y.

2016 - 2017

Name: Experiment Date:

Date Submitted:
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Instructor:

Prelab: Heat Engine

Read the manual then answer the following items:

1. Sketch the Ericsson cycle. Label the important states in the cycle and identify the
type of each process that constitutes the Ericsson cycle.

2. What is the work done by the gas for each process in an Ericsson cycle?

3. What is the mechanical work done by a heat engine that lifts an object of mass m
by a vertical height h?

Prelab: Heat Engine P1

 EXPERIMENT
Heat Engine

Objectives

At the end of the activity, the student should be able to:

• identify the thermodynamic processes involved in the Ericsson cycle.

• calculate the net thermodynamic work done in a heat engine cycle.

• establish the connection between the net thermodynamic work done in a heat engine
cycle and the mechanical work done by a heat engine in lifting a mass.

Introduction

Any system that transforms thermal energy to work is called a heat engine. This trans-
formation is accomplished by extracting heat QH from a hot reservoir, converting some
of the heat into useful work W , then discarding the excess to a cold reservoir QC . A
schematic diagram of this process is shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 1: Energy flow diagram for a heat engine

Heat Engine 1
Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y. 2016 - 2017

A system brought in a sequence of processes that eventually leaves the substance in

the same state as its started is said to be a cyclic heat engine. In this experiment, a
PASCO heat engine apparatus will be used to simulate the Ericsson cycle as it lifts a 100
g mass. The Ericsson cycle consists of four different processes summarized in Fig. 2.

Figure 2: P V diagram for the Ericsson cycle

Work is done for each process of the Ericsson cycle. When the state of an ideal gas is
changed isothermally from an initial state (Pi , Vi ) to a final state (Pf , Vf ), the work done
by the system is given by
Vf
 
Wisothermal = Pi Vi ln . (1)
Vi
For an isobaric process, the work done by the ideal gas is

Wisobaric = Pi (Vf − Vi ). (2)

The total thermal work done by the system will be compared to the mechanical work
done by the heat engine as it lifts a 100 g mass given by

Wmechanical = mg(hf − hi ) (3)

where hf and hi is the initial and final height of the 100 g mass, respectively.

Materials

The following materials are required for the experiment:

• PASCO Heat Engine Apparatus

• Vernier LabQuest

• Gas Pressure Sensor

• Air Chamber Can

• 100 g mass

Heat Engine 2
Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y. 2016 - 2017

• Stainless Steel Temperature Probe

• Two Beakers

• Water and Ice

• Electric Stove

• Tongs

Procedure

Data Collection
Initialization
1. Connect the gas pressure sensor and stainless steel temperature probe to the LabQuest.

2. Record the diameter of the piston and the volume of the air chamber can (average
Vchamber from the Gas Laws experiment) in Table W1.

3. Prepare an ice bath and boil 100 mL of water in a beaker. These will serve as your
cold and hot reservoir, respectively.

The next steps detail how to simulate the Ericsson cycle using the heat engine appa-
ratus. Remember to collect data only when the pressure and volume readings stabilize.

State A
4. Connect the air chamber can to the heat engine apparatus. Leave the other port
open.

5. Immerse the air chamber can in the ice bath, then set the height of the cylinder to
50 cm.

6. Connect the gas pressure sensor to the other port of the heat engine apparatus.

7. Record the pressure, height and temperature in Table W2.

State B

8. Place a 100 g mass on top of the platform.

9. Record the pressure, height and temperature in Table W2.

State C

10. Transfer the air chamber can from the ice bath to the beaker with boiling water.

11. Record the pressure, height and temperature in Table W2.

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Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y. 2016 - 2017

State D

12. Remove the 100 g mass on top of the platform.

13. Record the pressure, height and temperature in Table W2.
Repeat steps 5 to 14 until a total of three different data sets are collected.

The experimental set-up for the different states is summarized in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Heat Engine experimental set-up

Analysis
1. The transitions A → B and C → D are isothermal processes. Use equation 1 to
compute for the thermodynamic work during these transitions. Record the result
in Table W5.
2. The transitions B → C and D → A are isobaric processes. Use equation 2 to
compute for the thermodynamic work during these transitions. Record the result
in Table W5.
3. Compute for the net thermodynamic work done in one cycle.
4. In one cycle, the system does mechanical work on the 100 g mass during transitions
A → B and B → C. During these transitions, the mechanical work is mg(hB − hA )
and mg(hC − hA ) for transitions A → B and B → C, respectively, where hi
corresponds to the piston height at stage i. The total mechanical work for once
cycle is given by
Wmech = mg(hC − hA ). (4)

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Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y. 2016 - 2017

Calculate mechanical work done in one cycle for each data set. Record the result
in Table W6.

5. Calculate the average net thermodynamic work and mechanical work for the three
data sets. Compute for the percent deviation (in reference to the mechanical work).

Heat Engine 5
Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y. 2016 - 2017

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Data Sheet

Table W1. Set-up specifications

Diameter of the piston (m) Mass of the test object (kg) Volume of the air chamber (m3 )

Table W2. Pressure, Volume and Temperature for Trial 1

State Pressure (Pa) Height (m) Volume (m3 ) Temperature (◦ C)

Table W3. Pressure, Volume and Temperature for Trial 2

State Pressure (Pa) Height (m) Volume (m3 ) Temperature (◦ C)

Table W4. Pressure, Volume and Temperature for Trial 3

Worksheet: Heat Engine W1

Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y. 2016 - 2017

State Pressure (Pa) Height (m) Volume (m3 ) Temperature (◦ C)

Table W5. Thermodynamic work done by the gas for Trials 1, 2 and 3
Transition Work done by the gas (J)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
A→B
B→C
C→D
D→A
One cycle
Average

Table W6. Mechanical work done by the gas for Trials 1, 2 and 3
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
hC - hA (m)
Work done
by the gas (J)
Average Work (J)

Table W7. Average values of the thermodynamic and mechanical work.

Thermodynamic Work (J) Mechanical Work (J) Percent Error (%)

Worksheet: Heat Engine W2

Physics 73.1 2nd Semester A.Y. 2016 - 2017

Questions

1. Based on the experiment, justify the type of thermodynamic process for each tran-
sition. Account for any changes in the temperature during the isothermal process
and changes in the pressure during the isobaric process.

2. Give one possible reason for the discrepancy between the measured net thermody-
namic work and mechanical work.

Worksheet: Heat Engine W3