AP* PHYSICS B

THERMAL PHYSICS:
HEAT & THERMODYNAMICS
What you already know from Chemistry about temperature and heat:

• Never, ever forget that temperature is the average kinetic energy of molecules (Kavg = ½mv2)
• Metals conduct heat and electricity due to mobile, delocalized electrons.
• Thermal contact (commence heat exchange) leads to thermal equilibrium (cease heat exchange)
• Heat moves along a gradient from hot to cold until equilibrium is established
• HEAT--energy exchanged between objects because of a temperature difference
• A thermometer reaches thermal equilibrium once it stabilizes with the substance being measured

There are FOUR Laws of Thermodynamics that are inconveniently numbered!

• Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics--If two substances are in thermal equilibrium with a third system,
then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. What a silly name! Why do they call it that?
They had already named the other laws and discovered this obvious one still needed stating, so they
had to go backwards to zero.

• First Law of Thermodynamics--most commonly known as The Law of Conservation of Energy

which really means that the total Energy, U of the universe remains constant!

• Second Law of Thermodynamics--The entropy [S--I know, the word entropy has no “S” in it--I don’t
decide these things! It’s just a fancy word for disorder or chaos.] of the universe is always increasing.
[Think about all the energy it takes to keep your room clean and how it always gets messy “by itself”.]

• Third Law of Thermodynamics--The entropy of a pure crystalline substance at 0 K is equal to zero.

[Perfect order and no molecular motion ∴ no disorder or chaos. Not actually attainable since electrons
are still moving.]

THERMOMETERS AND TEMPERATURE SCALES

How thermometers work depends on the following physical properties:

• ΔVolume of a liquid [Δ is the capital Greek letter delta--it’s used to mean change which is
generally computed “final minus initial”]
• Δ Length of a solid
• Δ Pressure of a gas held at constant volume
• Δ Electric resistance of a conductor (that’s how the CBL probe works--very accurate!)
• Δ Color of a very hot object such as red hot iron, sun, stars

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© 2009 by René McCormick. All rights reserved.
Mercury or Alcohol Thermometers

A glass tube encasing a capillary tube filled with either of these liquids--
as the liquid is warmed it expands and has nowhere to go but up! It
contracts upon cooling.

" Δ Temperature ∝ Δ length of a column of liquid

( ∝ means proportional and is often replaced with an equal
sign accompanied by a constant with goofy units!)

" Calibrated using the freezing point, FP [ 0 °C, 32 °F, 273.15

K] of water and the boiling point, BP of water [ 100 °C, 212
°F, 373.15 K]. Celsius and Kelvin are broken into
100 equal segments between calibration points while
Fahrenheit is broken up into
180 segments. Why is the Fahrenheit scale so odd?
Daniel Fahrenheit developed a temperature scale that was
also broken into 100 units, but he set 0 °F equal to the coldest temperature he could
achieve using a sample of salt, ice and water and 100 °F as his own body temperature
(very portable, but perhaps unreliable!).

Two disadvantages:

" Hg and Alcohol have 2 different expansion coefficients [expand by different amounts
for each degree they are warmed]. This means one may read 59.0 °C while the other
reads 59.6 °C when immersed in the same substance. That’s trouble!

" Limited temperature range--Hg freezes at −39 °C and both liquids vaporize.

Constant-Volume Gas Thermometers and the Kelvin Scale

• When the bulb is immersed the gas expands or contracts. The tube on
the right is raised or lowered so that the gas is always experiencing the
SAME pressure on the left side of the apparatus. The height change h
is THEN read on the right side of the apparatus.

• Temperature readings are nearly

independent of the gas used, unlike Hg or
alcohol.

• Notice all gases extrapolate to −273.15 °C

when pressure goes to zero! This was
inspiration for the Kelvin scale where a
degree C = a kelvin of change

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 So, 0 K = absolute zero ∴ all molecular motion stops ∴ no Kavg
∴ no Pressure (in theory)
[No bing-bing-bing of the molecules colliding with the container!]

1
• Pressure versus Volume. As P ↑ Volume ↓. The shape of the graph is inverse and P ∝
V
(Boyle’s Law)

• Volume also goes to zero at absolute zero!! As the

temperature of a gas drops it contracts [put a
negative sign on the coefficient of expansion] 1/273
of its original volume for each degree C or K drop in
temperature.

• We now use the triple point of water [think phase

diagrams] as the standard by which to calibrate the
best gas thermometers.

• Electrical resistance thermometers (actually a

thermistor which is equivalent to our temperature
probe) are still superior.

THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLIDS AND LIQUIDS

The general concept of matter expanding with increased temperature [except water!] is about to be
quantified. We’ll begin linear (one dimension or 1-D) and travel to area (2-D) and finish with volume
(3-D). Buildings, highways and especially bridges must be constructed with expansion/contraction in
mind. The expansion is due to an increased separation between molecules as they gain more energy
from an increase in temperature.

! To calculate linear expansion: “heat ‘em up and move ‘em out!”

Δ l = α loΔT
" Δ l = change in length
" α = coefficient of linear expansion with units of °C−1 [per Celsius degree, in English].
USE A POSITIVE SIGN FOR EXPANSION; AND A NEGATIVE SIGN FOR
CONTRACTION
" lo = original length--that’s what a subscript of “o” usually means—“original”
" ΔT = change in Kelvin temperature--when the T is capital it’s usually “absolute”
" There is a table of coefficients in your text or on the web--no need to memorize any!

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! Surface area and volume also change with temperature:

Δ A =β AoΔT and Δ V = γ VoΔT

β = 2 α (area is 2-D) and γ = 3 α (volume is expanding 3-D)

! Bimetallic strips are constructed of 2 different metals. They have different

coefficients of expansions ∴ one expands more (or faster) than the other
causing a bend in the strip. This often acts like a switch in thermostats.
As the strip cools, it straightens and reconnects the circuit. Brass expands
more than steel; these 2 metals are common in bimetallic strips.

WEIRD WATER

Notice the slope of water’s phase diagram

versus CO2's diagram. All lines represent
equilibrium conditions between phases. Triple
Point is the T & P at which ALL THREE
phases exist in EQUILIBRIUM.

Water achieves its greatest density at 4 °C ∴

ice floats! Antimony & Bismuth also do this.
• This property is weird since the solid phase
is not the most tightly packed--for water, that’s due
to the intermolecular forces between Mickey’s ears and chin [remember water looks like Mickey
Mouse with the ears being the hydrogens and the lone electron pairs placed either side of Mickey’s
chin].
• H-bonding--the attraction between a H on one molecule and a highly electronegative element (N,
O, P, S and of course, F) on an adjacent molecule. DO NOT confuse this with a bonded hydrogen;
this is an intermolecular force (between molecules).
• Creates a hexagonal solid [ice] crystal structure with a hole in the middle--that’s why it’s less
dense!
• Note the slope of the lines in these phase diagrams. Water slopes to the left MOST substances
follow carbon dioxide’s pattern.

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MACROSCOPIC DESCRIPTION OF AN IDEAL GAS

Recall the gas law unit of study from Chemistry:

Ideal Gas Law: PV = nRT

! n = # of moles = mass (g)/molar mass = 6.02 × 1023 atoms, molecules, or formula units
R = ideal gas constant = 0.0821 L · atm · mol-1 · K-1 = 8.31 J · mol-1 · K-1 [the “energy R”]
! P1V1T2 = P2V2T1 is the Combined Gas Law
! Avogadro’s Principle--Equal volumes of gas @ same T & P contain the same number of
molecules
! 1 mole of a gas at STP = 22.4 L = 6.02 × 1023 molecules

Examine the PV diagram.

Notice the plateau for the phase change! The dotted lines
represent deviation of a real gas from ideal behavior.

NEW STUFF (not from chemistry)

! Another way to think about PV = nRT is

⎛ N ⎞
PV = ⎜ 23 ⎟
RT
⎝ 6.02 ×10 ⎠
Where N = total # of molecules, so PV can also be expressed in different terms as shown below:

PV = N kBT
" energy " R
And, kB = Boltzman’s constant and MUST = = 1.38 × 10-23 J/K
6.02 ×1023

! Don’t freak--we’ll play a lot of “constants” games--Boltzman’s constant is a molecular

distribution constant. It just incorporates two other constants, the energy R and Avogadro’s
number.

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KINETIC THEORY OF GASES

Assumptions: (You can also consider these properties of ideal gases.)

" Molecules are in constant random motion and travel in a straight line until colliding with
each other or the walls of their container
" Molecules have negligible volume; the space between them is what is important
" All collisions are elastic; there is no transfer of momentum
" No attractive forces exist between molecules
" In a pure substance all the molecules are alike

! There are 3 types of motion: vibrational, rotational and translational (from point A to point B).
We deal only with translational in the kinetic theory and neglect vibrational and rotational
motion.

! What you already know:

" the more molecules present, the more collisions occurring, the more pressure observed
" the faster [Temperature = KEavg = ½ mv2] the molecules move, the more likely they are
to collide and they collide with more “umph”. (Very scientific word, “umph”.)

! New stuff:
" Pressure—equals force per unit area
F
P=
A

Temperature = Kavg = 3 kBT = 1 mv2

2 2

You already knew that Kavg = temperature and KE; you just didn’t know the Boltzman part!
There are derivations in your text if you so desire. The 3/2 part simply comes from ½ mv2 having an
equal probability of happening on the x, y or z-axis [direction].

HOW FAST IS A GAS MOLECULE? That depends on the temperature!

! vrms--is the root mean square velocity also known as rms speed

3kBT
vrms = v2 = = 3RT
m M

m = molar mass (g/mol) and M = molar mass (kg/mol)

∴ Light, stealth molecules move fast while Heavier, sluggish molecules move slowly.

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MAXWELL DISTRIBUTION OF SPEEDS

First, notice that’s a funny looking bell curve (normal distribution

curve). Why? It’s not symmetrical. Note that the vrms is faster
than the “most probable speed” at the peak of the curve labeled
vp. You haven’t seen the last of these skewed curves.

Recall from biology or chemical kinetics that a 10 °C

increase in temperature generally doubles the rate of the
reaction since more molecules have enough energy to
overcome the activation energy, EA.

So, how does the distribution change when we heat things

up? More molecules have sufficient energy to overcome
the activation energy, thus the reaction speeds up.

A concept we will use quite a lot is “area under the curve”. Note the shaded regions to the right of the
velocity that is associated with EA. At the warmer temperature, more molecules have sufficient
energy to overcome the activation energy, thus the reaction speeds up. As always, “Heat ‘em up.
Speed ‘em up.”

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 Heat
Thermal equilibrium is established between two objects in contact with each other. Experiments performed
by James Joule (1818-1889) showed that whenever heat is gained or lost by a system during some process,
the gain or loss can be accounted for by an equivalent quantity of mechanical work done on the system. In
English, heat can be transferred from hot to cold and that transfer can perform work.

THE MECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT

You already know the value for this concept--you just need all the theory stuff!

! Heat (or thermal) Energy--energy that is transferred between a system and its environment because
of a temperature difference between them.
" Units were developed while there was still a big misunderstanding regarding heat! No one
understood it was energy and should be measured in energy units! Some of those old units
you should be familiar with:
- calorie--the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 °C
- kilocalorie--the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 °C
- Calorie--really a kilocalorie—it’s simply the food industry’s way of not depressing us
too much when we eat a Snickers bar!
- British thermal unit (BTU)--the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 lb of
water from 63 °F to 64 °F. Still used regarding gas grills, ovens, air conditioners, etc.

! Joule’s Experiment--Joule set out to measure the concept of heat lost

due to friction. You probably already know that in mechanical systems,
heat is lost and that heat is mostly due to friction. Joule set up the
apparatus shown right--a quite simple and elegant one!

! He wanted to measure the mechanical equivalent of heat. The falling

masses rotate the paddles, causing the temperature of the water to rise.

! Note the 2 weights are at the same height. If they fall a distance h then
they do work on the water when their Potential Energy (mgh) is
transferred to the water due to the friction between the water and the
paddles as they spin in the water. Since there are 2 weights, ∴ in terms
of energy, 2 mgh ∝ ΔT [remember that ∝ sign means proportional--can
you feel a constant coming on?] The proportionality constant is the
specific heat of water that you already know and love!

! The mechanical equivalent of heat is basically a term that refers to the historical importance
of Joule’s work--without it, we may have never realized that heat is simply energy and thus
follows the first law of thermodynamics [ law of conservation of energy].

(Told you, you knew it!--Now you just know where it came from!)

1 calorie = 4.186 J

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METHODS OF HEAT TRANSFER

! Three methods: conduction, convection and radiation. We will consider each one
separately. NO TRANSFER occurs without a difference in temperature between the 2
objects!

! conduction--process of heat transfer involving atomic collisions and contact between 2

objects. Metals are the best conductors since they have free moving electrons in addition to
atoms. Ever grabbed a metal pot handle during the cooking process? You usually only do it
once! The atoms near the flame are having their vibrational amplitudes increased and they
bump into their neighbors increasing their vibrational amplitudes, and so on and so on!
Metals do this best since each atom is associated with one or more free electron nearby that
also get into the act! Insulators are slow to catch on to the vibrational amplitude game.

! convection--process of heat transfer involving differing densities of layers of matter [usually

air or water]. Ever heard heat rises? It doesn’t. It only moves from hot to cold! What
happens say at a campfire, is that the air next to the flame is heated, expands, becomes less
dense and floats up to your outstretched, cold hands that are ABOVE the flame. Ever see the
road look wet off in the distance in August? Same thing. The air next to the hot road surface
is heated, expands and floats. The squiggles you can sometimes see are due to convection
currents.

" Never place hot objects on the balance! It can hurt the balance PLUS you get incorrect
readings. Too heavy or too light? Think it through!

! radiation--process of heat transfer that does NOT involve matter but rather, electromagnetic
radiation. The other two methods have so far! Back to the campfire--if your hands are above
the fire, it’s convection. Next to [to the sides of] the fire its radiation.
" All objects continuously radiate electromagnetic radiation. Infrared radiation is heat
transfer by electromagnetic radiation. Dark objects draw radiant heat while light
objects reflect radiant heat.

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 The Laws of Thermodynamics

HEAT AND INTERNAL ENERGY

Thermodynamics is the study of processes in which energy is transferred as heat and work.

! Internal energy--symbolized by U; the sum of ALL energy in a stationary piece of matter.

Heat, nuclear, chemical, and strain (stretched or compressed springs) energy.
U = KE+PE (molecular level)

! Thermal energy--symbolized by Q; the portion of internal energy that changes when the
temperature of the system changes

! Heat transfer--caused by temperature difference between system and surroundings

! We will refer to work done on or by a system ; heat is defined as a transfer of energy due to a
temperature difference.

" work--symbolized by W; is a force acting through a distance; work is also a transfer of

energy that is NOT due to a temperature difference
" Gases cool upon expansion [work done by system] and warm upon compression [work
done on system].
" open system--mass and/or energy may enter or leave
" closed system--no mass enters or leaves BUT energy may be exchanged
" isolated system--no energy in any form passes across its boundaries

WORK AND HEAT

P,V,T and internal energy establish the state of a system.

In equilibrium, the gas

contains a volume V and exerts a pressure, P, on the cylinder walls
and piston. If the piston has a cross-sectional area, A, the force
exerted by the gas on the piston is F = PA. Assume the gas expands
slowly enough to allow the system to maintain thermodynamic
equilibrium at all times. As the piston moves Δy, the work done on
the piston by the gas is

W = FΔy = P(A Δy) = PΔV

[remember the volume of a cylinder is (area of the circle) × (height)]

Work = W = −PΔV

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About those pesky sign conventions…

In AP Physics B, W is defined as “work done ON a system” and is (+). Well, that makes sense since
work is literally “added” to the system. So, it stands to reason that when work is done BY a system
(like an expanding gas moving the walls of its container), then W should bear a (−) sign. In the case
of an expanding gas the “work” term is simply PΔV, so it bears a (−) sign.

The sign of Q is just like the sign of ΔH in chemistry. Exothermic, heat exited the system; this is
detected by an increase in temperature and represented by –Q or – ΔH. The converse is also true. If
heat was added to the system (from the surroundings), it is detected by a decrease in temperature, is
referred to as endothermic and represented by +Q or + ΔH.

In summary, the scoop on the signs is that if “it” was “added” to the system, “it” bears a (+) sign.
If “it” was removed or exited the system, then “it” bears a (−) sign.

! expansion--work is done by the gas (system) and the gas cools; W is negative since energy is
leaving the system [since the gas cools, Q is also negative]

! compression--work is done on the system and the gas warms; W is positive since energy is
increasing [Q is also positive since the gas is warmed, more KE added to the system]

! Heat added is + Heat lost is (-) Work ON system is (+) Work BY system is(-)
Think of it as “adding” either heat or work TO the system being studied. [Either
increases its energy.]

FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS APPLIED TO SOME SIMPLE SYSTEMS

The law of conservation of energy IS the first law of thermodynamics. Mathematically stated:

ΔU = Q +W = 3 nRT
2
! isothermal process--ΔT = 0 since T is constant; process carried out at constant temperature
and the curves are called isotherms. Consider the following graph: isotherms are for A, B and
A’, B’
PV = nRT or better yet, P = (nRT)/V in y = mx + b format, so if T
is constant then P = (all constants combined)/V.

As P increases, V decreases so the relationship is inverse, BUT

there is a constant inverse relationship. You just get a new constant
at each temperature!

! heat reservoir--a body whose mass is so large that, ideally,

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 its temperature does not change significantly when heat is exchanged with a system (think
oceans!)

! Think back to the piston system. Assume heat is added and the gas expands slowly enough to
allow the system to maintain thermodynamic equilibrium at all times. As the piston moves Δy,
the work done on the piston by the gas is −PΔV

" Now apply ΔU = Q + W

" T is constant, ΔT = 0; AND 3/2 nRT = ΔU = 0 since internal energy does NOT change
since there is NO heat exchange! That means that
0 = Q + W So…
Q = −W when T is held constant and the work done BY the gas in an
isothermal process leaves the system [hence the negative sign] and equals
the heat added to the gas [in magnitude]

! adiabatic process--No heat is allowed to flow into or out of the system ∴ Q = 0

" either this change happens very quickly and the heat can’t flow fast enough OR
" the system is extremely well insulated--the rapid expansion of gases in the internal combustion
engine is a good example--it’s nearly adiabatic
" If Q = 0 AND ΔU = Q + W , then ΔU = + W
" The internal energy decreases with an expansion and increases with a compression as does
Temperature

! isobaric process-- “same pressure”; P = constant, W = −PΔV

! isochoric [or isovolumetric] process-- “same volume” ; V = constant , W = 0

! isolated system--Q = W = 0, ΔU = 0 and so Uinitial = Ufinal ; internal energy remains constant!

! It is also important to point out that Q & W depend on the path taken in the process, BUT the quantity
Q − W is independent of the path taken.

YOU MUST KNOW THESE GRAPHS AND WHICH GOES WITH WHICH PROCESS!!

for Adiabatic ( curve AC) for Isobaric P = constant for Isochoric (Isovolumetric) ΔV = 0
Q = 0 and ΔU = Q + W ∴ W = −PΔV= −(area under the curve) ∴ W = −PΔV = 0
∴ ΔU = W ∴ ΔU = Q + (−PΔV ) ∴ ΔU = Q + 0 = Q

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HEAT ENGINES AND THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

A heat engine is a device that converts thermal energy to either mechanical or

electrical energy. Coal is burned, water turns to steam which causes a turbine to turn
which drives an electrical energy. Refrigerators are the opposite of heat engines!

! heat engine--carries some working substance through a cyclic process during

which
" heat is absorbed from a source at a higher temperature
" work is done by the engine
" heat is expelled by the engine to a reservoir at a lower temperature
[“heat sink”]
! Qh--the engine absorbs a quantity of heat [boiler on Titanic]

! W--work done BY the expanding steam to turn a gizmo [propeller on Titanic]

! Qc--heat given up by the engine to heat sink [pipe system to return “spent”
water]

! Tc--temperature of heat sink

! Since the working substance [water] goes through a cycle its initial and final energies are equal

! ΔU = 0 AND Q = −W from the first law of thermodynamics

! That means net W done BY [leaving] a heat engine is equal to the net heat flowing
into it.
! Qnet = Qh − Qc = W; If the working substance is a gas--the net work done for a cyclic process is the area
enclosed by the curve representing the process on a P-V diagram.

THERMAL EFFICIENCY

Symbolized by e and equal to the ratio of the net work done to the heat absorbed at the higher temperature
during one cycle.

W QH − QC Q
efficiency, e = = = 1− C
QH QH QH

Think of it as the ratio between what you get [mechanical energy] and what you give [thermal energy].

! 100% efficiency is achieved ONLY if Qc = 0. That means that no heat was lost in the conversion--
IMPOSSIBLE!!

! The first law states: Energy cannot be created nor destroyed but only change forms [you cannot get
more out than you put in]. The second law shows us that E changes are not 100% efficient [you cannot
break even]. That’s why you’ve learned that Energy is lost usually as heat. The heat engine studies let
you defend it and one more idea.....
! Perpetual motion machines--one that allows for 100% efficiency OR allows you to get more Energy
out than you put in. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! There is a patent issued on one in America, though.

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REVERSIBLE AND IRREVERSIBLE PROCESSES

Reversible is theory. Frictionless, no turbulence, etc.

Irreversible is reality in the natural world.

THE CARNOT ENGINE

A theoretical engine that operates in an ideal, reversible cycle--called a Carnot cycle--between two reservoirs
is the most efficient engine possible.

! Carnot’s theorem--No real engine operating between two heat reservoirs can be more efficient than a
Carnot engine, operating between the same two reservoirs.

! The thermal efficiency of a Carnot engine is:

ec = Th - Tc = 1 - Tc
Th Th
All of the T’s are in Kelvin and the only way e can equal 100% is if Tc = 0 K.

I’ve always heard that the reason scientists have never reached absolute zero is due to the lack of a heat sink--
you’ve got to have a place colder than absolute zero to put the heat on that last transition from 1 K to 0 K!!
Since all molecular motion stops at absolute zero, you’d have to have a substance/place with negative
molecular motion--antimatter??? A problem for far greater minds than mine!

ENTROPY

The amount of disorder in a system. Calculated as follows:

S = ΔQr
T
SUMMARY:

There are many ways to state the laws of thermodynamics. Here are a few!

Zeroth law: If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in thermal
equilibrium with each other.

First law: ΔU = Q - W or the statement of the law of conservation of energy.

Second law: Heat flows spontaneously from a hot object to a cold one, but not the reverse.
No heat engine operating in a cycle can absorb thermal energy from a reservoir and just
perform an equal amount of work.
There cannot be a 100% efficient heat engine--one that can transform all heat into work.
The entropy of the universe is always increasing

Third law: The entropy of a pure perfect crystal is zero at zero degrees Kelvin.

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