Thermodynamics: Examples for chapter 1.

1. When 0.12 g of solid iodine was vaporized at 1670 K, the resulting gas
displaced 20.2 cm3 of dry air at 298 K and 99.9 kPa pressure. How
many iodine molecules were dissociated (i.e. as atomic iodine) in the
gas? The gas phase equilibrium reaction is:

I2 (g) ⇀
↽ 2I(g)

Assume that the gas mixture (of I2 and I) behave according to the ideal
gas law.
Solution:

The amount of I2 before any dissociation takes place is:

m 0.12 g −4
n= = −1 = 4.7 × 10 mol
MI2 254 g mol
After the equilibrium has been reached, the amount of I2 is (1 − α)n
and the amount of I is 2αn. Here the degree of dissociation is denoted
by α. The ideal gas law is:

PV PV
P V = nRT ⇒ n = ⇒ n = (1 − α)n + 2αn =
RT RT

PV
⇒α= −1
nRT

P V MI2 (99.9 kN m−2 ) × (20.2 × 10−6 m3 ) × (254 g mol−1 )

= −1 = = 0.72
mRT (0.12 g) × (8.31 J K−1 mol−1 ) × (298 K)

The amount of I is 2αn = 2 × 0.72 × (4.7 × 10−4 mol) = 6.8 × 10−4 mol.

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2. What is the molar volume of n-hexane at 660 K and 91 bar according
to (a) the ideal gas law and (b) the van der Waals equation? For n-
hexane, Tc = 507.7 K and Pc = 30.3 bar. If you obtain an equation
that you cannot solve analytically, attempt to solve it numerically.
Solution:

a)

RT (0.08314 L bar K−1 mol−1 )(660 K)

V̄ = = = 0.603L mol−1
P 91 bar

b)

27R2 Tc2 27(0.08314 L bar K−1 mol−1 )2 (507.7 K)2

a= = = 24.81 L2 bar mol−2
64Pc 64(30.3 bar)

RTc (0.08314 L bar K−1 mol−1 )(507.7 K)

b= = = 0.174 L mol−1
8Pc 30.3 bar
RT a
P = − 2
V̄ − b V̄
Test values for V and see when you get 91 bars: V = 0.39 L mol−1 .
This equation can also be solved by Maxima:

a : 24.81;
b : 0.174;
R : 0.08314;
T : 660;
P : 91;
r : solve(P = R*T/(V - b) - a/(V*V), V);
float(r);

This shows three roots of which only one is real (two are complex).
The last line converts the complicated algebraic form to numerical
values.

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3. Ten grams of N2 is mixed with 5 g of O2 and held at 25 ◦ C and 0.750
bar. (a) What are the partial pressures of N2 and O2 ? (b) What is the
volume of the ideal mixture?
Solution:

a)
10 g
nN 2 = = 0.357 mol
28.013 g mol−1
5g
nO 2 = = 0.156 mol
32.000 g mol−1
0.357 mol
yN2 = = 0.696 mol
0.513mol
0.156 mol
yO 2 = = 0.304 mol
0.513mol
PN2 = 0.696 × (0.750 bar) = 0.522 bar
PO2 = 0.304 × (0.750 bar) = 0.228 bar
b)

nRT (0.513 mol)(0.083145 L bar K−1 mol−1 )(298.15 K)

V = = = 17.00 L
P 0.750 bar

4. Calculate dZ/dP for a real gas in the limit P → 0 using the virial
equation.
Solution:

µ ¶
′ ′ 2 dZ dZ
Z = 1 + B P + C P + ... ⇒ = B ′ + 2C ′ P + ... ⇒ = B′
dP dP P →0

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5. The critical temperature of gaseous ammonia is 406 K and the critical
pressure is 113 bar. Use the van der Waals equation to predict its molar
volume at 273 K and 1 bar. Hint: Calculate first the coefficients a and
RT
b, then write the equation for the molar volume: V = P +a/ V̄ 2
+b. Guess
an initial value for the molar volume and obtain a new value from the
equation. Place the obtained value in the equation again to get a new
value. Repeat this procedure until the value does not change anymore.
This is an example of iterative methods for solving equations.
Solution:

Use the following equations derived in the lecture notes:

27R2 Tc2 RTc

a= and b =
64Pc 8Pc
This gives a = 425 L2 kPa mol−2 and b = 0.0373 L mol−1 . Use the
above equation and iterate until you get convergence: V = 22.55 L
mol−1 .

6. Derive the expressions for Vc , Tc and Pc in terms of the van der Waals
constants a and b.
Solution:

The equations in the lecture notes can be rewritten as (the definition

of critical point and the equation of state):

RTc 2a
¢2 =
V̄c3
¡
V̄c − b
2RTc 6a
¢3 =
V̄c4
¡
V̄c − b
RTc a
Pc = − 2
V̄c − b V̄c

Division of the first equation by the second (side by side) yields V̄c = 3b.
Substitution of this expression into the first equation above gives Tc =

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 8a
27Rb
.
Substitution of the two previous equations into the last equation
a
above yields Pc = 27b 2 . Note that the van der Waals constants a and b

are usually calculated using the critical temperature and pressure since
they are typically known more accurately than the critical volume.

7. The isothermal compressibility κ of a gas is defined as:

µ ¶
1 ∂V
κ=−
V ∂P T

Calculate κ for a van der Waals gas using the method of implicit differ-
entiation (with respect to P ). Show that in the limit of infinite volume,
it yields 1/P (the same result as the ideal gas law).
Solution:

Based on the lecture notes, the van der Waals equation can be written:
³ a ´¡ ¢
P + 2 V̄ − b = RT
V̄
Expand the left hand side and substitute V̄ = V /n to get:

n2 a n3 ab
nRT = P V − nP b + − 2
V V
Implicit differentiation with respect to P at constant T gives (i.e., side
by side):

n2 a 2n3 ab
µ ¶ µ ¶ µ ¶
∂V ∂V ∂V
0=V +P − nb − 2 × + ×
∂P T V ∂P T V3 ∂P T

¡ ∂V ¢
Solving for ∂P T
gives:
µ ¶
∂V nb − V
=
∂P T P− n2 a/V + 2n3 ab/V 3

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 The definition of isothermal compressibility now gives (at last stage V
is assumed to be large):
µ ¶
1 ∂V V − nb V 1
κ=− = → =
V ∂P T P V − n2 a/V + 2n3 ab/V 2 PV P

8. The cubic expansion coefficient is defined by

µ ¶
1 ∂V
α=
V ∂T P

Calculate the cubic expansion and isothermal compressibility coeffi-

cients for an ideal gas.
Solution:

For an ideal gas V = nRT /P . The require partial derivatives are

therefore:
µ ¶ µ ¶
∂V nR ∂V nRT
= and =−
∂T P P ∂P T P2

Using the definitions for α and κ (using P V = nRT below):

¶ µ
∂V
1 nR nR 1
α= = = =
V
∂T P PV nRT T
µ ¶
1 ∂V nRT PV 1
κ=− = 2
= 2
=
V ∂P T VP VP P

9. A certain gas has the following equation of state:

nRT
P =
V − nb

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 a) Calculate the following partial derivatives:
µ ¶ µ ¶
∂P ∂P
and
∂V T ∂T V

b) Show that the following relation holds for the mixed partial deriva-
tives for this equation of state:

∂2P ∂2P
µ ¶ µ ¶
=
∂V ∂T ∂T ∂V

Solution:

a) µ ¶ µ ¶
∂P nRT ∂P nR
=− and =
∂V T (V − nb)2 ∂T V V − nb
b)
∂ 2P ∂2P
µ ¶ µ ¶
nR nR
=− and =−
∂V ∂T (V − nb)2 ∂T ∂V (V − nb)2

10. Calculate the compressibility factor Z for NH3 (g) at 400 K and 50 bar
by using the attached graph and the virial equation.
Solution:

By reading the value for B from the graph, using relation B ′ = B/RT ,
and the virial equation written in terms of P , we get:

B
Z = 1 + B ′ P + ... = 1 + P + ...
RT
(−100 × 10−3 L mol−1 )
≈1+ × (50 bar) = 0.85
(0.0831451 bar L K−1 mol−1 )(400 K)

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