Determination of the Heat

Capacity Ratio of Air via

Rüchardt’s Method
COSCA | SORIANO | TSAI
INTRODUCTION
Theory
Heat Capacity
● The amount of heat required to
increase 1 mole of substance by 1
degree Celsius.

Heat Capacity Ratio

● It is also called the Adiabatic Index, and
is a ratio of the heat capacity due to
constant pressure to the heat capacity
due to constant volume.
● The ratio is always greater than 1 since
C P > C V.
Identifying Heat Capacity Ratios
Degrees of Freedom
● 3n: For Monatomic Ideal Gases
● 5n: For Diatomic Ideal Gases

Heat Capacity

● Using the equation CP = CV + R, the value for γ for monatomic gas is

1.66 and 1.40 for diatomic gases .
Rüchardt’s Method
● Eduard Rüchardt formulated this technique to identify the heat capacity ratio
of air by analyzing the piston’s height, amount of pressure inside the chamber
of engine apparatus, and the applied forces acting on the piston. So, the
method is solely based on Newton’s Second Law of Motion.
Pertinent Equations

where

T is the period and Δt is the oscillation time

Pertinent Equations

where
T is the period,
γ is the heat capacity ratio,
Patm is the atmospheric pressure,
A is the cross-sectional area of the
piston,
m is the mass of the piston,
g is the acceleration due to gravity,
y0 is the initial height of the piston,
b is the damping parameter.
Objectives of the Experiment

● Determine the heat capacity ratio of air using

Rüchardt’s Method
● Compare the heat capacity ratio obtained
experimentally with the theoretical value
● Show that the surrounding air is composed of mostly
diatomic particles
METHODOLOGY
Setup

The Gas Pressure On the LabQuest Sensor Using the rubber tubing,
Sensor was menu, data collection was the gas pressure sensor
set to a duration of 5 s
connected to the was connected to the
with a rate of 500
Vernier LabQuest. heat engine apparatus.
samples/s.
Experimental Procedure

Initial height of Data collection The time interval Measurements

the piston was set was first started for essential were recorded
to y0. Air leakage on the LabQuest peaks in the and the period
before a tap on zoomed-in was calculated.
was minimized by
section of the Three trials were
locking the the piston was
unused port. oscillation curve done for each y0.
applied.
was isolated.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Experimental Data
Period (s)

Piston Height Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

(m)

0.075 0.035714286 0.036 0.043333333

0.08 0.04 0.0375 0.0425

0.085 0.046666667 0.043333333 0.0425

0.09 0.053333333 0.0475 0.046666667

0.095 0.053333333 0.05 0.0425

Data Treatment
< T expt > = AVERAGE(3 1/y0 < T expt >-2
Trials)
13.33333333 679.9660651
0.038349206
12.5 625
0.04
11.76470588 512.6379494
0.044166667
11.11111111 413.6742315
0.049166667
10.52631579 423.1836735
0.048611111
Results

SLOPE() 104.104149

INTERCEPT() -702.4391745

RSQ() 0.941070403
Results
Results
Results
Possible Sources of Error

● Piston apparatus, wherein the initial height may not

be as accurate
● LabQuest equipment, in which the peaks of the
oscillation curve needed to be isolated
● Tapping force on the piston
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusions

The heat capacity ratio of gas was determined using Rüchardt’s

Method, wherein the gas was kept in a container with a piston on
top. One importance of finding the ratio was to get more precise
measurements than when either heat capacities were determined
separately. For an ideal diatomic gas, the researchers expected the
ratio to be 1.4. However, the calculated value was 1.704, resulting
to a 21.74% deviation due to some experimental errors, e.g.
apparatus problems and inconsistent applied force.
Recommendations

To further improve the experiment, the researchers recommend

using a new piston apparatus as the one used in this research
might have tiny cracks that could possibly cause small air leakage,
as well as from old rubber tubing connections. The Δt reading from
the LabQuest could also be snipped more carefully and
meticulously for more accuracy. Additionally, the future
researchers could use a device in tapping the piston instead of
manually doing it for more consistency in the force applied.
Thank you for listening!

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