Thermodynamics

Introduction
The origin of thermodynamics can be traced back to early effort to convert heat into power.
Today thermodynamics is broadly interpreted to include all aspect of energy and energy
transformations, including power generation, refrigeration and relationships among properties of
matter. The science of thermodynamics involves the study of the energy associated with a
certain amount of material and a clearly defined volume in space. The fixed amount of material
is called the thermodynamic system while the clearly defined volume in space is called the
control volume.

Figure 1 Application areas of Thermodynamics

One of the fundamental laws of nature that we will elaborate later is the conservation of energy
principle. It simply states that during an interaction, energy can change from one form to
another but the total amount of energy remains constant. That is energy cannot be created or
destroyed and it can only change forms.

Example: A rock falling off the cliff, picks up speed as a result of its potential energy being
converted to kinetic energy.
Importance of Dimensioning and Units
Any physical quantity is characterized by dimensions. The magnitudes assigned to dimensions
are called units.

Primary or fundamental dimensions are mass (m), Length (L), time (t) and temperature (T).

Secondary or derived dimensions that are expressed in terms of primary dimensions are velocity
(v), Energy (E) and volume (V).

Table 1 Some common standard prefixes in SI units

Multiple Prefix
109 giga, G
106 mega, M
103 kilo, K
101
10-2 centi, c
10-3 Milli, m
10-6 Micro,
10-9 Nano, n

A number of unit systems have developed over the years. However, only two systems of units
are still in common use today. They are the English system also known as United States
Customary system (USCS) and the metric SI (Le Systeme International d’ Unites) which is also
known as the International System.

Dimensional Homogeneity
In engineering, all equations must be dimensionally homogeneous. Every term in the equation
must have the same dimensions. If, at some stage in our analysis, we find ourselves in a position
to add two quantities that we have different dimensions, it is a clear indication that we have made
an error at an early stage.

Example: Spot the error with unit inconsistencies. You ended up with a following equation at
some stage:

( )
The two terms on left had side does not have the same units and they cannot be added to obtain
total energy.

Pressure
Pressure (P) is defined as a normal force exerted by a fluid per unit area.

Pgage

Patm
Pabs
Pvac

Patm

Pabs

Absolute Absolute
vacuum Pabs=0 vacuum

Figure 2 Absolute, gage and vacuum pressures

Temperature
When two bodies at different temperatures are in contact, heat energy travels from high
temperature body to lower temperature body, until they reach thermal equilibrium.

Figure 3 Two bodies reaching thermal equilibrium after being brought into contact in an
isolated enclosure
The Kelvin scale is related to Celsius scale by

 
T K   T oC  273.15
Systems and Control Volumes
A system is defined as a quantity of matter or region in space chosen for study. The mass or the
region outside the system is called surroundings. The imaginary surface that separates the
system from its surrounding is called the boundary. The boundary of the system can be fixed or
movable.

The systems can be considered

 Closed system (control mass): consists of fixed amount of mass. No mass can enter or
leave a closed system. But energy in the form of heat and work can cross its boundary
and the volume of the closed system does not have to be fixed

mass in/out-No

Energy in/out-Yes
a) Closed system with b) Closed system with
no moving boundary moving boundary

Figure 4 Mass cannot cross the boundary of a closed system, but energy can

 Open system (control volume): is called a properly selected region in space. It

usually encloses a device that involves mass flow such as compressor, turbine or
nozzle. Flow through these devices is studied by selecting the region within the
device as control volume. Both mass and energy can cross the boundary of a
control volume.
 c) Mass can cross an open system and
Conservation of mass principle applies

Figure 5 A control volume can involve fixed, moving, real and imaginary boundaries

Properties of a System
Any characteristic of a system is called a property. Some familiar properties are pressure (P),
temperature (T), volume (V) and mass (m).

Properties which are independent of the mass of the system, such as temperature, Pressure and
density (  ) are called Intensive properties.

Extensive properties are those whose values depend on the size or extend of the system such as
total volume, total mass and total momentum. Extensive properties per unit mass are called
specific properties and some examples are specific volume, specific total energy.

Density and Specific Gravity

Density (  ) is defined as mass per unit volume

m
 kg m3
V

The reciprocal of density is specific volume ( ) which is defined as the volume per unit mass

V 1
  m3 kg
m 

Density of a substance depends on temperature and pressure. The density of most gases is
proportional to pressure and inversely proportional to temperature. Liquids and solids, are
essentially incompressible substances and variation of their density with pressure is usually
negligible. (Note: we will also use the symbol ( ), to represent velocity (m/s).
Continuum
Matter is made up of atoms that are widely spaced in the gas space. Yet it is very convenient to
disregard the atomic nature of a substance and view it as continuous homogeneous matter with
no holes that is continuum. This idealization is valid as long as the size of the system we deal
with is large relative to the space between the molecules.

State and Equilibrium

Consider a system not undergoing any change. At this point, all the properties can be measured
or calculated throughout the entire system which gives us a set of properties that completely
describes the condition or state. At a given state, all the properties of a system have fixed
values. If a value of one property changes, the state will change to different one.

The word equilibrium implies state of balance and there are no unbalance potential (or driving
forces) within the system. A system in equilibrium experiences no changes when it is isolated
from its surroundings. Thermodynamics deals with equilibrium states.

i) A system at two ii) A closed system reaching

different states thermodynamic equilibrium

Figure 6 Thermodynamic States and equilibrium

The State Postulate

As noted earlier, the state of a system is described by its properties. However, we do not need to
specify all the properties in order to fix a state. The number of properties required to fix a state
of a system is given by the state postulate, the rest of the properties assume certain values
automatically.

The state of a simple compressive system is completely specified by two independent intensive
properties i.e. temperature and specific volume.
Process and Cycles
Any change that a system undergoes from one equilibrium state to another is called a process,
and the series of states through which a system passes during a process is called the path of the
process. To describe a process, one should specify the initial and the final states of the process
and the path it follows, and the interaction with the surrounding.

Quasi-static or quasi-equilibrium process: View as a sufficiently slow process that allows the
system to adjust itself internally so that properties in one part of the system do not change any
faster than those at the other parts.

Process diagrams plotted by employing thermodynamics properties as coordinates are useful in

visualizing the process. Some common properties that are used as coordinates are temperature
(T), pressure (P) and volume (V) (or specific volume ( v )).

Isothermal process: is a process during which the temperature (T) remains constant.

Isobaric process: is a process during which the pressure (P) remains constant.

Isometric process: is a process during which the specific volume ( v ) remains constant.

a) Quasi-equilibrium and nonquasi- b) The P-V diagram of compression

equilibrium compression process process

Figure 7 Processes and cycles

A system is said to have undergone a cycle, if it returns to initial state at the end of the process.
For a cycle, the initial and final states are identical.
The Steady-Flow Process
The term steady implies no change with time. A large number of engineering devices operates
for long periods of time under same conditions, and they are classified as steady-flow devices.
Process involving such devices is somewhat idealized and called stead-flow process, which is
defined as a process during which a fluid flows through a control volume steadily.

The term uniform implies no change in properties with location over a specific region.

Temperature and Pressure Measurement

Temperature and Its Measurements
We are generally familiar with temperature as a measure of “hotness” or “coldness”. Based on
our physiological sensation, we express the level of temperature qualitatively with words like
freezing cold, cold, warm, hot and red-hot. However, we cannot assign numerical values to
temperature based on our sensations alone.

Macroscopically (larger Scale), temperature of a body is a measure of the thermal potential of

that body. However, temperature is not the measure of the quantity heat energy. On a molecular
level, temperature is a result of motion of the particles that constitute the material. Moving
particles carry kinetic energy (discussed in Energy section). The temperature increases as this
motion and the kinetic energy increase.

Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

When two bodies at different temperatures are in contact, heat energy travels from high
temperature body to lower temperature body. Systems are in thermal equilibrium if they do not
exchange energy in the form of heat. Zeroth law of thermodynamics states that if two bodies
are in thermal equilibrium with a third body, they are also in thermal equilibrium with each
other. By replacing the third body with a thermometer (temperature measuring device), the
zeroth law can be restated as two bodies are in thermal equilibrium if both have the same
temperature reading even if they are not in contact.
 Figure 8 Two bodies reaching thermal equilibrium after being brought into contact in an isolated enclosure

Temperature Scales
Temperature scales enables us to use a common basis for temperature measurements. All
temperature scales are based on some easily reproducible states such as the freezing and boiling
points of water at standard atmospheric pressure, which are also called ice point and the steam
point, respectively.

A mixture of ice and water that is in equilibrium with air saturated with vapour at 1 atmosphere
pressure is said be at ice point, and a mixture of liquid water and water vapour (with no air) in
equilibrium at 1 atmosphere is said to be at steam point.

The temperature scales used in the SI and in the English system today are Celsius scale (oC) and
the Fahrenheit Scale (oF). On the Celsius scale, the ice and the steam points were originally
assigned the values of 0 oC and 100 oC (degrees), respectively. The corresponding values for
Fahrenheit scale are 32 oF and 212 oF. These are referred to as two-point scales since
temperature values are assigned at two different points.

Conversion Formulae;

Fahrenheit to Celsius ( )

In thermodynamics, it is desirable to have a temperature scale that is independent of the

properties of any substance or substances. This is called thermodynamic temperature scale,
which was developed in conjunction with the second law of thermodynamics. The
thermodynamic temperature scale in SI is the Kelvin Scale (K) (not oK; the degree symbol for
Kelvin scale is officially dropped). The lowest temperature on the Kelvin scale is absolute zero,
or 0 K. The thermodynamic temperature scale in the English system is the Rankine scale (R).

Note: By international agreement, the Kelvin and Celsius scales are defined by two fixing points:
absolute zero and the triple point of Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, which is water
specially prepared with a specified blend of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes. Absolute zero is
defined as precisely 0 K and −273.15 °C. The triple point of water is defined as being precisely
273.16 K and 0.01 °C.

This definition serves the following purposes: it fixes the magnitude of the Kelvin as being
precisely 1 part in 273.16 parts of the difference between absolute zero and the triple point of
water; it establishes that one Kelvin has precisely the same magnitude as one degree on the
Celsius scale; and it establishes the difference between the null points of these scales as being
273.15K

The Kelvin scale is related to Celsius scale by

 
T K   T oC  273.15

The Rankine scale is related to Fahrenheit scale by

 
T R  T o F  459.67

International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-1990)

The International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-1990), supersedes the International Practical
Temperature Scale of 1968 (IPTS-68), 1948 (IPTS-48) and 27 (IPTS-27), was adopted by
International Committee of Weights and Measures in 1989.

The International Temperature Scale (ITS-90) is a temperature scale which is designed to be

consistent with thermodynamic temperatures measured on the basis of Kelvin scale. On this
scale, the unit of thermodynamic temperature T is again Kelvin (K), defined as the fraction of
1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water, which is the sole
defining fixed point of both the ITS-90 and the Kelvin scale. This is the most important
thermometric fixed point used in the calibration of thermometers to ITS-90.

The ice point of ITS-90 is 0 oC (273.15 oC). The steam point of ITS-90 is 99.975 oC (with an
uncertainty of ± 0.005 oC).

Some thermodynamic relationships involve temperature T and often the question arises of
whether it is in K or oC. If the relationship involves temperature difference, it makes no
difference and either can be used. If the relationship involves temperature only instead of
temperature differences then K must be used. When in doubt, it is always safe to use K. In
many thermodynamic relationships if oC is used will yield an erroneous result.
Temperature Measurement Devices
Many methods have been developed for measuring temperature. Most of these rely on
measuring some physical property of a working material that varies with temperature. One of the
most common devices for measuring temperature is the mercury in glass thermometer. The
theoretical basis for thermometers is the zeroth law of thermodynamics. Common types of
temperature measuring devices are,

Mercury in Glass or Alcohol in Glass Thermometers:

Both these temperature devices are example of liquid expansion and contraction inside a
calibrated tube. These devices work by having a large bulb filled with mercury or alcohol in the
bottom of the thermometer, attached to a thin tube. As the temperature rises, the liquid expands,
traveling up the tube. People can read the temperature with a liquid-in-glass thermometer by
finding the marking which correlates with the height of the mercury. As the temperature lowers,
the liquid contracts, shrinking back down into the bulb.

The melting point of mercury (freezing point) is -38.72 degrees C and the boiling point of
mercury is 357 degrees C. Therefore, the mercury in glass thermometer is suitable to measure
temperature in the range -38 oC to 350 oC. However, the range of mercury in glass thermometer
can be increased to 530 oC by putting nitrogen gas over the mercury.

Celsius proposed a method of calibrating a thermometer:

1. Place the cylinder of the thermometer in melting pure water and mark the point where the
fluid in the thermometer stabilizes. This point is the freeze/thaw point of water.
2. In the same manner mark the point where the fluid stabilizes when the thermometer is
placed in boiling water vapour.
3. Divide the length between the two marks into 100 equal pieces.

These points are adequate for approximate calibration but both vary with atmospheric pressure.
Nowadays, the triple point of water is used instead (the triple point occurs at 273.16 K, 0.01 °C).

Thermocouples:
A thermocouple consists of two dissimilar metals joined together at a junction as in Figure 1, an
emf (voltage difference) in milli-volts scale is generated which is primarily a function of the
junction temperature. This phenomenon is called the Seebeck effect. There are two other types
of emf presence in the thermocouple, Peltier emf caused by current flow in the circuit and
Thomson emf, which result from temperature gradient in the materials. The Seebeck emf is our
prime concern since it is dependent on the junction temperature. If the emf generated at the
junction is carefully measured as a function of temperature, then such a junction of two
dissimilar materials can be utilized for measurement of temperature.
When two dissimilar materials are connected to a measuring device, another thermal emf will be
generated at the junction of the materials and the connecting wires to the voltage measuring
instrument. This emf will be dependent on the temperature of the connection, and provision
must be made to take account of this additional potential. Important rule in the construction of
thermocouples circuit is,

 If a third metal is connected in the circuit (i.e. solder material at the junction joint), the
net emf of the circuit is not affected as long as the new connections are at the same
temperature. This statement may be proved with the aid of 2nd law of thermodynamics
and known as the law of intermediate metals.

Cold Junction Compensation

It must be known that all thermocouple circuits must involve two junctions, a hot junction and a
cold junction. Thermocouples measure the temperature difference between two junctions, not
absolute temperature. To measure a single temperature one of the junctions—normally the cold
junction—is maintained at a known reference temperature (i.e. ice point or zero oC), and the
other junction (hot junction) is at the temperature to be sensed.

Having a junction of known temperature, while useful for laboratory calibration, is not
convenient for most measurement and control applications. Instead, they incorporate an artificial
cold junction using a thermally sensitive device such as a diode to measure the temperature of
the input connections at the instrument, with special care being taken to minimize any
temperature gradient between terminals. Hence, the voltage from a known cold junction can be
simulated, and the appropriate correction applied. This is known as cold junction compensation.

Selection of the types of thermocouples (combinations of alloys) for applications is driven by

cost, availability, convenience, melting point, chemical properties, stability, and output. Different
types are best suited for different applications. They are usually selected based on the
temperature range and sensitivity needed.
Table 2 Types of thermocouples

Type of Temperature range

Different combinations of alloys
Thermocouple [oC]
Chromel (90%_nickel, 10% chromium) –
K-type Alumel (95% nickel, 2% magnesium, 2% -200 to 1350
aluminium, 2% silicon)

J-type Iron-Constantan -40 to 750

T-type Copper–Constantan -200 to 350
N-type Nicrosil–Nisil Up to 1200

Compensation Leads
To avoid the cost of long and relatively expensive thermocouple wires, compensating leads are
often used. These are cheaper wires, used to connect the thermocouples to the recording
instruments, the temperature gauge or controller.

The compensating lead wires are therefore chosen so that the electrical effects at the two
junctions of the thermocouple wires and the compensating leads cancel out. The voltage read by
the instrument is the voltage generated by the thermocouple bead and not by any other junction.
The material of the compensation leads have to be selected so that the voltages generated where
they meet the thermocouple wires are identical but opposite.

Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTD)

An accurate method of temperature measurement is the detection of the electrical resistance.
Resistive thermal devices (RTDs) are temperature sensors that exploit the predictable change
in electrical resistance of some materials with changing temperature. It consists of some type of
resistive element, which is exposed to the temperature to be measured. The temperature is
indicated through a measurement of the change in resistance of the element. The common type
of resistive element used today is Platinum and they are often called Platinum Resistance
Thermometers or PT_some number (i.e. PT100). The linear temperature coefficient of resistance
α is defined by

( )

Where R1 and R2 are the resistances of the material at temperatures T1 and T2, respectively. This
relationship is usually applied over a narrow temperature range such that the variation of
temperature approximates a linear relationship. For wider temperature ranges the resistance of
the material is expressed by a polynomial relationship
 ( )

Where R0 is resistance at reference temperature T0, constants a and b are experimentally

determined. One of the primary sources of error in the RTD is the effect of the resistance of the
leads which connect the element to the bridge circuit (recording device or data acquisition
system). Several arrangements may be used to correct this effect. The Siemen’s three-lead
arrangement is the simplest type of corrective circuit. At balance conditions the center lead
carries no current, and the effect of the lead resistance of the other two lead is cancelled out. The
Callender four-lead arrangement solves the problem by inserting two additional lead wires in the
adjustable leg of the bridge. So that the effect of the lead wires on the resistance thermometer is
cancelled out.

Thermistors:
The thermistor is a semi conductor device that has a negative temperature coefficient of
resistance, in contrast to positive coefficient displayed by most metals. The resistant of the
thermistor follows an exponential variation with temperature. Thus for thermistor,

( ( ))

Where R0 is the resistant of the thermistor at reference temperature T0. β is an experimentally

determined constant that varies between 3500 K to 4600 K.

The thermistor is an extremely sensitive device because the resistance changes so rapidly with
temperature and consistent performance within 0.01oC may be anticipated with proper
calibration. The sensitivity of thermistors is determined by differentiating the equation above,

( ( )) ( )

However, thermistor has the disadvantage of highly nonlinear behavior. This is not a severe
problem because data acquisition systems can employ computer programs to provide direct
temperature readout from the resistance measurement. The high resistance of the thermistor
means that smaller current are required for measurement and thus errors due to self -heating are
very small.

Other Types of Temperature Measuring Devices

 Optical Pyrometers
 Infrared
Pressure and Its Measurements
Pressure (P) is defined as a normal force exerted by a fluid per unit area. We speak of pressure
only when we deal with a gas or a liquid. The unit of pressure is newtons per square meter
(N/m2) which is called a pascal (pa).

The pressure unit pascal is too small for pressures encountered in practice. The other pressure
units commonly used in practice are,

Where is standard atmosphere. In the older English system, the pressure unit is pound-
force per square inch or psi (i.e. ).

The counterpart of pressure in solids is normal stress, which is force acting perpendicular to the
surface per unit area.

The actual pressure at a given position is called the absolute pressure, and it is measured
relative to absolute vacuum (i.e. absolute zero pressure). Most pressure-measuring devices are
calibrated to read zero in the atmosphere. They indicate the difference between the absolute
pressure and the local atmospheric pressure. This difference is called the gage pressure (Pgage)
which can be positive or negative. The negative pressures below atmospheric pressure are
sometimes called vacuum pressures and are measured by vacuum gages that indicate the
difference between the atmospheric pressure and the absolute pressures. These pressures are
related to each other,

Like other pressure gages, the gage used to measure the air pressure in an automobile tire reads
the gage pressure. Therefore the common reading of 32 psi ( ⁄ ) indicate a pressure
of 32 psi above the atmosphere. At a location where the atmospheric pressure is 14. 3 psi, the
absolute pressure of the tire is, .
 Pgage

Patm
Pabs
Pvac

Patm

Pabs

Absolute Absolute
vacuum Pabs=0 vacuum

Figure 9 Absolute, gage and vacuum pressures

Pressure at a point
The pressure is not a vector. Pressure has magnitude but not a specific direction, and thus
pressure is a scalar quantity. In other words, the pressure at a point in a fluid has the magnitude
in all directions.

Pressure is an effect which occurs when a force is applied on a surface. Pressure is the amount of
force acting on a unit area. Therefore the pressure (P) exerted by a liquid column on any area it
rest is,

N/m2

Where g ( )g N

Substituting force to pressure ( ) hg N/m2

Variation of Pressure with Depth

The pressure in a fluid at rest does not change in the horizontal direction. However, as shown
with equation above, pressure varies in the vertical direction (with depth) in a gravity field.
Pressure in a fluid increases with depth because more fluid rests on deeper layers, and the effect
of this “extra weight” on the deeper layer is balanced by an increase in pressure.

The variation of the pressure ( ) with depth in a liquid is expressed by,

g N/m2

Where g is the specific weight of the fluid. This concludes that pressure difference
between two points in a constant density fluid is proportional to variation in depth ( ) between
the two points. In other words, pressure in a static fluid increases linearly with depth. This is
what a diver experiences when diving deeper in a lake.

P1=Patm
1

2 P2=Patm+ρgh

The length of arrow indicate the

magnitude of pressure

Figure 10 Pressure in a liquid at a point 2 from the free surface increases linearly with distance

Example: If we take point 1 to be at the free surface of a liquid open to the atmosphere (Figure),
where the pressure is the atmospheric pressure. Then, the pressure at depth h from the free
surface

g Or g N/m2

Pressure head
For given liquid, the vertical distance ( ) is sometimes used as a measure of pressure and it is
called the pressure head. The unit of pressure head is meters (m) and often, instead of quoting
pressure in pascal, it is given in meters (m) liquid column.

Pressure head (m)

g
Pascal Law
A consequent of the pressure in a fluid remaining constant in the horizontal direction is that the
pressure applied to a confined fluid increases the pressure throughout by the same amount.

Figure 11 lifting a large weight by a small force by the application of Pascal law

Specific Gravity
The specific gravity of a liquid is the ratio of its density to that of the water. Sometimes relative
gravity is used to call specific gravity. There is no unit for specific gravity.

Specific gravity of water (SP): ( ⁄ )⁄ ( ⁄ )

Specific gravity of mercury (SP): ( ⁄ )⁄ ( ⁄ )

Important Points in Pressure Estimations

 For gases, small to moderate distances, the variation of pressure with height is negligible
because of their low density. For example, the pressure in a tank containing a gas can be
considered to be uniform since the weight of the gas is too small to make a significant
difference.
 Liquids are essentially incompressible substances, thus the variation of density with depth
for liquids is negligible. This is also the case for gases when the elevation change is not
very large.
 The variation of density of liquids or gases with temperature can be significant, and may
need to be considered when high accuracy is required.
 The gravitational acceleration g varies from 9.807 m/s2 at sea level to 9.764 m/s2 at an
elevation of 14, 000 m where large passenger planes cruise. This is a change of just 0.4%
in this extreme case. Therefore, g can be assumed to be constant with negligible error.
  For fluids where the density varies significantly with elevation, a relation for the variation
of pressure with elevation is,
g
The negative (-ve) sign is due to our taking the positive z-direction to be upward so that
is –ve when is positive since pressure decreases in an upward direction.
 A consequent of the pressure in a fluid remaining constant in the horizontal direction is
the pressure applied to a confined fluid increases the pressure throughout by the same
amount. This is called Pascal’s law.

The ration A2/A1 is called the ideal mechanical advantage of the hydraulic lift.

Pressure Measurement Devices

Mechanical devices offer the simplest means for pressure measurements. In this section we shall
examine the principle of some important arrangement. Large pressure differences are measured
with heavy fluids, such as mercury (e.g. 760 mm Hg = 1 atmosphere). Small pressure
differences, such as those experienced in experimental wind tunnels or venturi, flowmeters, are
measured by lighter fluids such as water (27.7 inch H2O = 1 psi; 1 cm H2O = 98.1 Pa).

The Barometer
Atmospheric pressure is measured by a device called a barometer. Thus, the atmospheric
pressure is often referred to as the barometer pressure. It can measure the pressure exerted by
the atmosphere by using water, air, or mercury, using the formulae

g N/m2

Where ρ is the density of the liquid and h is the height of the mercury column above the free
surface. Note that the length and the cross-sectional area of the tube (unless it is too small that
surface tension effects are significant) have no effect on the height of the fluid column of a
barometer.

A frequently used pressure unit is the standard atmosphere, which is defined as the pressure
produced by a column of mercury 760mm in height at 0 oC (ρHg=13,595 kg/m3) under standard
gravitational acceleration. If water instead of mercury were used to measure the standard
atmospheric pressure, a water column of about 10.3 m would be needed.
 Figure 12 The basic Barometer

The decline in the atmospheric pressure with elevation has far reaching implications in daily life.

 For given temperature, the density of is lower at high altitudes, and thus a given volume
of air contains less air and oxygen. A 2.0 liter car engine will act like a 1.7 liter car
engine at 1500 m altitude (unless it is turbocharged) because of 15% drop in pressure and
this 15% drop in the density of air.
 For given wind speed, the density of air decreases with high altitude and thus, a volume
of wind hitting the turbine contain less energy.
 Cooking take longer at high altitudes since water boils at a lower temperature at low
atmospheric pressures.
 We tire more easily and experience breathing problems at high altitudes.

The Manometer
We explained earlier that fluid column can be used to measure pressure differences based on the
principle that elevation change of fluid at rest corresponds to ⁄ g . A device based on this
principle is called a manometer, and it is commonly used to measure small and moderate
pressure differences.

A manometer consists of glass or plastic U-tube containing one or more fluids such as mercury,
water, alcohol or oil. To keep the manometer to a manageable level, heavy fluid such as mercury
is used when large pressure differences are expected.
 Patm
P2

1 2

ΔP = P2 -Patm=ρgh

Figure 13 Schematic of basic manometer

Consider the manometer shown above (Figure) that is used to measure the pressure for example
in a tank at point P2. Since gravitational effects of gases are negligible, pressure at position 1
nearly the same value as pressure at position 2 (P1=P2).

The differential fluid column of height h is in static equilibrium, and it is open to atmosphere.
Then the pressure at P2 is determined by

g N/m2

Where ρ is the density of the fluid in the tube. The cross-sectional area of the tube has no effect
on the differential pressure height h, and thus pressure exerted by the fluid. The diameter of the
tube, however, should be large enough (more than few millimeters) to ensure that the surface
tension effect and thus the capillary rise is negligible.

Manometers are particularly well suited to measure pressure drops across a horizontal flow
section between two specific points due to presence of a device such as a heat exchanger or any
flow resistance (orifice plate).

Other Pressure Measurement Devices

Bourdon Tube
This is named after the French engineer and inventor Eugene Bourdon (1808-1884). This device
consists of a bent, coiled or twisted hollow metal tube whose end is closed and connected to a
dial indicator needle. When the tube is open to the atmosphere, the tube is un-deflected, and the
needle on the dial at this state is calibrated to read zero (gage pressure). When the fluid inside
the tube is pressurized, the tube stretched and moves the needle in proportion to the pressure
applied.
Pressure Transducers
Electronics have made their way into every aspect of life, including pressure measurement
devices. Modern pressure sensors, called pressure transducers, used various techniques to
convert the pressure effect to an electronic effect such as a change in voltage, resistance, or
capacitance. Pressure transducers a smaller and faster and they can be more sensitive, reliable,
and precise than their mechanical counterparts.

Strain-gage pressure transducers

Work by having a diaphragm deflect between two chambers open to the pressure inputs. As the
diaphragm stretches in response to a change in pressure difference across it. , the strain gage
stretches and the Wheatstone bridge circuit amplifies the output. There are resistance transducers
and capacitance transducers to measure the diaphragm deflection.

Piezoelectric transducers
Also called the solid-state pressure transducers. This works on the principle that an electric
potential is generated in a crystalline substance when it is subjected to mechanical pressure.
Piezoelectric pressure transducers have a much faster frequency response compared to
diaphragm units and they are suitable for high pressure applications. However, they are not as
sensitive as are diaphragm-type transducer, especially at low pressures.