Eng-Thermodynamics (GENG-220), Fall 2009

Solution of Homework 1

1-3C) The claim cannot be true. It violates the second law of thermodynamics. Please
refer to page 2 in the textbook for additional discussions.

1-19C) Extensive properties depend on system size – some examples are volume, mass,
and energy. Intensive properties are independent of system size –some examples are
temperature, pressure, density, and specific volume. Please refer to page 12 of the
textbook for additional discussions.

1-22C) In a system in thermodynamic equilibrium, property values do not change with

time but observe that:
a) Temperature values should be equal everywhere in the system;
b) The mechanical equilibrium criterion is that forces should be balanced (resulting
force equal to zero) everywhere. In many cases, this leads to equal pressure values
at all points of the system, but there are cases in which the pressure values are not
equal. For example, the pressure may vary within an equilibrium system with
elevation as result of gravitational effects.

Please refer to page 14 in the textbook for additional discussions.

1-29C) The zeroth law of thermodynamics states that if a body A is in thermal

equilibrium with body C and if body B is in thermal equilibrium with body C, then
bodies A and B are in thermal equilibrium with each other. A practical application of this
law is the use of thermometers for temperature measurement. Please refer to page 17 in
the textbook for additional discussions.

1-59) Let us denote the pressure at the beginning and end of the hiking trip as PB (=930
mbar) and PE (=780 mbar). The pressure decreases as the altitude increases and,
therefore, the end of the hiking trip occurred at a higher altitude than the beginning of the
trip. We have that:
PB = PE + ρ gh

Thus:

h=
( PB − PE )
ρg

Replacing the numerical values and paying attention to unit conversion, we get:
 100 Pa
( PB − PE ) ( 930 − 780 ) mbar × 1mbar
h= = = 1274m
ρg 1.2
kg m
× 9.81 2
3
m s

1-63) The pressure of the gas inside the cylinder results from the following three
contributions: (1) the atmosphere, (2) the weight of the piston, and (3) the pressure
exerted by the spring.

Pgas = Patm + Ppiston + Pspring

To obtain the piston and spring contributions, we need to remember that P = F A and
that the weight force is given by ( mg ) .

Replacing the numerical values and paying attention to unit conversion, we get:

m
4kg × 9.81
1000 Pa s2 60 N
Pgas = 95kPa × + 2
+ = 123354 Pa
1kPa 1m 1m 2
35cm ×
2
35cm ×
2

10000cm 2 10000cm 2

Converting unit and rounding, we obtain that the pressure of the gas is123.4 kPa.

1-68)
a) Examining Figure P1-68 in page 44 of the textbook, the pressure of air in the duct
forces mercury to go down in the left hand side of the U-tube and, therefore, to go
up in the right hand side. This indicates that the air pressure in the duct is above
atmospheric pressure.
b) The absolute pressure in the duct is given by Pduct = Patm + ρ gh , where ρ is the
mercury density and h is the difference in the mercury levels in both sides of the
tube (15mm). Using SI units during the intermediate steps, we have:
kg m
Pduct = 100000 Pa + 13600 3 × 9.81 2 × 0.015m ≈ 102000 Pa = 102kPa
m s
1-76)

Observe that:
a) points 1 and 2 are at the same level in the same stationary fluid (fluid A) and
therefore P1 = P2 ;
b) points 3, 4, and 5 are at the same level in the same stationary fluid (fluid B) and
therefore P3 = P4 = P5 .
c) the unit ( kN m 3 ) of properties given for fluids A and B shows that they are the
specific weights: γ = ρ g .

We begin our calculation in the end of the tube open to the atmosphere (right hand side)
and use our three observations to write:
P1 = Patm + γ b hB + γ AhA

where hB and hA are equal to 15cm and 5cm, respectively (please refer to the figure).

Replacing the numerical values and paying attention to unit conversion, we get:

133.3Pa kN 1000 N 1m
P1 = 758mmHg × +8 3 × × 15cm × +
1mmHg m 1kN 100cm
kN 1000 N 1m
10 3 × × 5cm × = 102741Pa ≈ 102.7kPa
m 1kN 100cm