Thermal Physics

Thermodynamics – study of heat and work and those properties of a substance that bear relation
to heat and work.

Terms:
1. Surrounding – all matter and space outside to a system.
2. Isolated system – physical system that does not interact or exchange energy with the
surrounding.
3. Control Volume – focused volume in space from which the substance flows.
4. Control Surface – the surface that surrounds the control volume.
5. Phase – a quantity of matter having the same chemical composition or homogenous.
6. Property – quantity that describes a substance.

Thermodynamic Property
1. Intensive Property – property that does not depend on the mass of a substance.
2. Extensive Property – property that does depend on the mass of a substance.

Working Substance – a substance to which heat can be stored or heat can be extracted.

Properties of a working substance

1. Mass and Weight
2. Volume
3. Pressure
4. Temperature
5. Specific Volume, Density, Specific Weight
6. Internal Energy, “u”, “J”
The sum of kinetic, potential, chemical, electrical, nuclear, and other energy
associated with the atoms and molecules of a system. An increase in internal energy
results in a rise in temperature or a change in phase.
Internal energy is zero if T is constant.
7. Flow Work – work due to the change in volume.
 𝐽
8. Enthalpy, “H”,
𝑘𝑔

The total heat and heat content of a substance which is equal to the sum of the
internal energy of a body and the product of pressure and specific volume.
When a process occurs at constant pressure, the heat evolved (either released or absorbed)
is equal to the change in enthalpy. Enthalpy (H) is the sum of the internal energy (U) and the
product of pressure and volume (PV) given by the equation:

H=U+PV
When a process occurs at constant pressure, the heat evolved (either released or
absorbed) is equal to the change in enthalpy. Enthalpy is a state function which depends
entirely on the state functions T, P and U. Enthalpy is usually expressed as the change in
enthalpy (ΔH) for a process between initial and final states:
ΔH=ΔU+ΔPV
If temperature and pressure remain constant through the process and the work is
limited to pressure-volume work, then the enthalpy change is given by the equation:
ΔH=ΔU+PΔV
Also at constant pressure the heat flow (q) for the process is equal to the change in
enthalpy defined by the equation:
ΔH=q
9. Entropy – measure of randomness of molecules of a substance or measures the fraction of
the total energy of a system that is not available for doing work. The increase in entropy is
called as entropy production.
∆𝑄
∆𝑆 =
𝑇𝑜
𝐾𝐽
Where: ∆𝑆 = entropy production, 𝐾

Work, Heat and Power

a. Work - the quantity of energy transferred form one system to another
b. Heat – form of energy due to temperature difference. BTU, calories, joule
𝑄 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑇, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐶 = 𝐶𝑝 𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑣
Where: m = mass in kg
C = specific heat
c. Specific Heat, C – the heat required to change the temperature of 1 kg of a
substance 1oC.
 Conversions Units of Heat
1 BTU = 778 ft-lb 1 kcal = 4.187 kJ
= 252 cal 1 N-m = 1 J
= 1.055 KJ
d. Power – time rate of doing work
Conversion Units of Power
1 hp = 550 ft-lb/sec
33, 000 ft-lb/min
2545 BTU/hr
42.4 BTU/min
746 watts
TEMPERATURE

 The degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment.

 A measure of the warmth or coldness of an object or substance with reference to some standard
value.
 A measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter, expressed in
terms of units or degrees designated on a standard scale.
 A measure of the ability of a substance, or more generally of any physical system, to transfer
heat energy to another physical system.
 Any of various standardized numerical measures of this ability, such as the Kelvin, Fahrenheit,
and Celsius scale.
 Relations of Temperature Scales:
5
A. ℃ = (℉ − 32)
9
9
B. ℉ = 5 ℃ + 32
C. 𝐾 = ℃ + 273.15
D. 𝑅 = ℉ + 460

Problems:

1. 750 deg R to deg C

2. 90K to deg R
3. Pure iron melts at 1,535 C. What is the temperature in Fahrenheit?
4. A general rule of thumb used by pilots is for every 1,000 feet of altitude, the temperature falls
3.5 F. If the temperature at sea level is 78 F, what would you expect the temperature to be at
10,000 feet in Celsius

THERMAL EXPANSION
 tendency of matter to change in shape, area and volume with response to change in
temperature

Temperature is a monotonic function of the average molecular kinetic energy of a

substance. When a substance is heated, the kinetic energy of its molecules increases. Thus, the
molecules begin vibrating/moving more and usually maintain a greater average separation.
Materials which contract with increasing temperature are unusual; this effect is limited in size and
only occurs within limited range of temperature. The degree of expansion divided by the change
in temperature is called the material’s Coefficient of Thermal Expansion and generally varies with
temperature.

Linear Expansion:
∆𝐿 = 𝑌 = 𝛼𝐿(𝑇2 − 𝑇1 )
Where:
Y = elongation due to temperature change
𝛼 = coefficient of linear expansion (m/m-oC)

Superficial/Area Expansion:
∆𝐴 = ү𝐴(𝑇2 − 𝑇1 )
Where:
ү = coefficient of area expansion (1/oC)
Cubic/Volume Expansion:
∆𝑉 = 𝛽𝑉(𝑇2 − 𝑇1 )
Where:
𝛽 = coefficient of volume expansion (1/oC)

Linear Expansion
aluminum: 0.000023 (m/m oC)
steel: 0.000012 (m/m oC)
copper: 0.000017 (m/m oC)

Example:
1. An aluminum construction is designed for temperatures ranging -30oC to 50oC. If a beam's
length is 6 m when assembled at 20oC - the shortest final length of the beam at minimum
temperature -30oC can be calculated as:

2. A steel train rail is 400 m long. In March it is at -30 oC and 40oC in July. Find the change
m
in length in mm. (𝛼 = 11.7(m − C) )
Area Expansion:
The coefficient of thermal expansion used in area expansion is equal to 2𝛼.

Example:
1. At 20 oC, the length of a sheet of steel is 50 cm and the width is 30 cm. If the coefficient
of linear expansion for steel is 10-5 oC-1, determine the change in area and the final area at
60 oC.

2. At 30 oC, the area of a sheet of aluminum is 40 cm2 and the coefficient of linear expansion
is 24 x 10-6 / oC. Determine the final temperature if the final area is 40.2 cm2.

3. The radius of a ring at 20 oC is 20 cm. If the final radius at 100 oC is 20.5 cm, determine
the coefficient of area expansion and the coefficient of linear expansion is?
Volume Expansion:
The coefficient of thermal expansion used in area expansion is equal to 3𝛼.

Example:
1. At 30 oC the volume of an aluminum sphere is 30 cm3. The coefficient of linear expansion
is 24 x 10-6 oC-1. If the final volume is 30.5 cm3, what is the final temperature of the
aluminum sphere?

2. The coefficient of linear expansion of an metal sphere is 9 x 10-6 oC-1. The internal
diameter of the metal sphere at 20 oC is 2.2 cm. If the final diameter is 2.8 cm, what is the
final temperature?

3. A 2000-cm3 aluminum container, filled with water at 0oC. And then heated to 90oC. If the
coefficient of linear expansion for aluminum is 24 x 10-6 (oC)-1 and the coefficient of
volume expansion for water is 6.3 x 10-4 (oC)-1, determine the volume of spilled water.
HEAT
 Total kinetic energy of all molecules
 Depends on the mass and energy of the particles
 Heat flows from hot to cold until the heat is balanced and it is called equilibrium.
 Absolute zero is the temperature where there is the absence of heat.

Specific Heat, c
o the heat required to change the temperature of 1 kg of a substance 1oC.
o the ability of the substance to absorb heat

Example:
1. A 2 kg lead is heated from 50oC to 100oC. The specific heat of lead is 130 J.kg-1 oC-1.
How much heat is absorbed by the lead?

2. The specific heat of copper is 390 J/kg oC, the change in temperature is 40oC. If the copper
absorbs 40 Joule of heat, what is the copper’s mass?

3. The initial temperature of 20 gram water is 30oC. The specific heat of water is 1 cal g-1
oC-1. If water absorbs 300 calories of heat, determine the final temperature?

4. The change in temperature of the sea water is 1oC when water absorbs 3900 Joule of heat.
The specific heat of the sea water is 3.9 × 103 J/kg°C, what is the mass of the sea water.
 Heat Capacity
o Defined as the amount of heat to be supplied to a given mass to raise the temperature
of the body by one degree.

Example:
1. The specific heat of water is 4180 J/kg Co. How much is the heat capacity of 2 kg water?

2. The specific heat of aluminum is 900 J/kg Co. How much is the heat capacity of 2 gram
aluminum?

PHASE CHANGES

Enthalpy Change Accompanying a Change in State

When a liquid vaporizes the liquid must absorb heat from its surroundings to
replace the energy taken by the vaporizing molecules in order for the temperature to remain
constant. This heat required to vaporize the liquid is called enthalpy of vaporization (or
heat of vaporization). For example, the vaporization of one mole of water the enthalpy is
given as:
ΔH = 44.0 kJ at 298 K
When a solid melts, the required energy is similarly called enthalpy of fusion (or
heat of fusion). For example, one mole of ice the enthalpy is given as:
ΔH = 6.01 kJ at 273.15 K
ΔH=ΔU+pΔV