OVERVIEW

Thermodynamics is the science of energy and entropy; it

deals with heat and work and these properties of substances that
bear a relation to heat and work.

In this module, you will learn the basic concepts and

definitions in thermodynamics as well as the different
temperature scales.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you should be able to

explain the basic principles and concepts in thermodynamics

LEARNING PLAN

BASIC CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

1.1 . Thermodynamics and Engineering Thermodynamics

The name thermodynamics is an example of a Greek

technical term. Basically, it means the process of converting heat
(thermo) into mechanical power (dynamics).

Thermodynamics is the science dealing with energy

transformations, including heat and work, and physical
properties of substances that are involved in energy
transformations.

Engineering Thermodynamics is a component of

thermodynamic science dealing with all types of heat engine,
refrigeration, air conditioning, and combustion, and the physical
properties of the substances used in these applications.

There are four basic laws of thermodynamics: the zeroth,

when two bodies have equality of temperature with the third
body, they in turn have equality of temperature with each other;
the first law, also known as the Conservation of Energy
principle, states that energy can neither be created nor
destroyed, it can only change forms; The Second Law, deals
with the quality of energy (energy degradation); and the third
law, states that the entropy of a prefect crystal is zero at the
absolute zero of temperature. Like all of the other basic laws of
physics, each of these laws is a generalization of observed
 events in the real world, and their “discovery” was the result of
an individual’s perception of how nature functions. Curiously, the
order in which the thermodynamic laws are named does not
correspond to the order of their discovery. The zeroth law is
attributed to Fowler and Guggenheim in 1939; the first law to
Joule, Mayer, and Colding in about 1845; the second law of
Carnot in 1824; and the third law to Nest in 1907. The first and
second law are the most pragmatic and consequently the most
important to engineers.

1.2 . Thermodynamic Systems

Any quantity of matter or any region of space to which

attention is focused for purposes of analysis is called a system.
Everything outside the system boundary is referred to as the
surroundings.

The system and its boundary are always chosen by the

analyst; they are almost never specified in the problem
statement. It should be clear that, if different systems are used
to analyze the same quantity, they should produce the same
results in each case. A system does not have to be fixed in
space. It can move, deform, and increase or decrease in size
with time. Basically, there are three types of systems: isolated,
closed and open.

If a system is a particular quantity of matter, the system

always contains the same amount of matter and there can be no
mass crossing the system boundary. This system is called
closed system. In a closed system, the boundary is not fixed as
long as it contains the same amount of matter. This is an
example of a moving boundary system. An example of a closed
system is a gas trapped within a cylinder being compressed by
a piston.

If a system is defined in a region of space, the system

volume is fixed and therefore, there is a specific system
boundary, this system is called open system or controlled
volume. In an open system, the quantity of matter inside the
system boundary may change. An open system whose quantity
of matter is unchanged is called steady flow open system
otherwise the system is called unsteady flow open system. An
example of an open system is a gas within a certain length of
pipe.

In both the closed and open systems, energy may be

crossing their boundaries. A specific system whose mass and
energy are not crossing its boundaries is called isolated
Page 2 system.
 Mass Boundary Closed system: ∆v ≠ 0, ex. Piston
Fixed Boundary Closed System: ∆v = 0, ex. Pressure
cooker

Figure 1.1. The three types of thermodynamic systems

1.3. Properties, States, and Processes

A property is any observable characteristics of a system.

Examples of properties are pressure, temperature, volume and
others. A property may be directly or indirectly observable. A
property which is indirectly observable and cannot be obtained
by mathematical operations on other properties may be defined
by means of thermodynamic laws such as internal energy and
entropy.

The state of the system is its condition as specified by the

values of its properties. If a system has the same values of
properties at two different times, the system is in identical states
and is said to be in equilibrium state.

If the condition of the system is disturbed with the aid of

an external force, then this transformation of a system from one
state to another is called a process. The path of the process
is the series of states through which the system passes during
the process. A cycle or cyclic process is a process, which
returns the system to the state it was before the process began.
The properties of the system vary during the execution of a cycle,
as the cycle is completed all properties have been restored to
their initial values in mathematical form.
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 Figure 1.2 Figure 1.3

Figure 1.2 represents three process paths that change the state
of the system from A to B while Figure 1.3 represents a
thermodynamic cycle.

1.4. Intensive and Extensive Properties

Thermodynamic properties can be divided into two

general classes, intensive and extensive properties. An
Intensive property is independent of the amount of mass. The
value of an extensive property varies directly with the mass.
Thus, if a quantity of matter in a given state is divided into two
equal parts, one part will have the same value of intensive
property as the original and half the value of the extensive
property. Temperature, pressure, specific volume, and density
are examples of the intensive properties. Mass and total volume
are examples of extensive properties.

Extensive properties are symbolized by upper case

(capital) letters. For example, V, E and U. Intensive mass-based
properties are symbolized by lower case letters. For example, ѵ
= V/m, e = E/m, u = U/m are the symbols for mass-based volume,
specific energy, and specific internal energy. Similarly, v, e, and
u are the symbols for molar specific volume, molar specific
energy, and molar specific internal energy.

1.5. State or Point Functions

A quantity whose value depends on the particular path

followed in passing from one state to another is called a path
function otherwise it is a point or state function.

1.6. Density, Specific volume, Specific Weight

Density (ρ) is defined as the mass of a substance per unit

Page 4 of its volume. The unit foe density is kgm/m3.
 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑚
ρ= =
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉

Specific volume (𝒗) is defined as the reciprocal of

density or the volume per unit mass. The unit for specific volume
is m3/kgm.

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉
𝑣= =
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑚

Specific weight (φ) is defined as the weight of a

substance per unit volume. The unit for specific weight is kgf/m3.

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤
φ = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = 𝑉

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a

substance to some standard density such as the density of
water.

𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑠. 𝑔. =
𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

Humidity is the amount of moisture (water vapor) in the

air. It can be expressed as absolute humidity or relative humidity.
Absolute humidity is the mass of water vapor divided by a unit
volume of air (grams of water/cm3 of air). Relative humidity is
the amount of water vapor present in the air divided by the
maximum amount that the air could contain at that temperature.
Relative humidity is expressed as a percentage. The relative
humidity is 100% if the air is saturated with water and 0% if no
water vapor is present in the air at all.

1.7. Pressure

Pressure is defined as the force exerted by a system per

unit area. It is caused by the collisions of the molecules of the
substance with the boundaries of the systems. As molecule hit
the walls, the exert forces that try to push the walls outward. The
forces resulting from all of these collisions cause the pressure
exerted by a system on its surroundings. The unit used for
pressure is Newtons per square meter (N/m2), also called Pascal
(Pa).
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 There are two general types of pressure, the
atmospheric pressure and gage pressure. The atmospheric
pressure is the force exerted by the atmosphere per unit area of
the surface. The standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is
101,325 Pa or 101.325 kPa. The gage pressure is the force
exerted by the weight of the fluid (above) per unit area. This is
also the difference between total or absolute pressure and the
pressure of the atmosphere.

𝑃𝑎𝑏𝑠 = 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 + 𝑃𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒

If the absolute pressure is lower than the atmospheric

pressure, its gage pressure is negative and the term vacuum is
applied.

1.8. Temperature and Temperature Scales

Temperature indicates the thermal state of the system

and its ability to exchange energy with a substance in contact
with it. Thus, the substance with higher temperature passes
energy to one with lower temperature.

Two bodies at the same temperature although the mass

of one is more than the mass of the other are said to be thermal
equilibrium with each other.

The units of temperature in S.I. unit are Celsius (oC) and

Kelvin (oK) but since more thermometers are still in English unit
it is but proper to know how Celsius will be converted to
Fahrenheit and vice versa. Reference points on the Celsius
scale are the freezing point of water (0 oC) and boiling point of
water (100 oC) while Fahrenheit it is 32 oF and 212 oF,
respectively.

There are two common absolute temperature scales,

Rankine (R) and Kelvin (K). they are related as follows:

9
𝑇𝑅 = 𝑇
5 𝑘

Each of these absolute scales has a relative scale, the common

English Fahrenheit (oF) scale and the European Celsius (oC)
scale. These two scales are related to each other by

9
𝑇𝐹 = 𝑇 + 32
5 𝐶
Page 6
 or

5
𝑇𝐶 = (𝑇𝐹 − 32)
9

And the respective absolute and relative scales are related by

𝑇𝑅 = 𝑇𝐹 + 459.67

And

𝑇𝐾 = 𝑇𝐶 + 273.15

Figure 1.4. Relative and absolute temperatures and pressures

STUDENT ACTIVITY

LEARNING EXERCISE 1

I – Identification. Identify the following as described.

_________________ 1. It is defined as the ratio of the density
of a substance to some standard density such as the density of
water.
_________________ 2. This law is attributed to Fowler and
Guggenheim in 1939
_________________ 3. It deals with transformation of energy
of all kinds from one form to another.
_________________ 4. Indicates thermal state and the ability
to exchange energy with a substance in contact with it.
_________________ 5. The normal force exerted by a fluid per
Page 7 unit area against which the force is exerted.
 _________________ 6. The measure of pressure below zero.
_________________ 7.A component of thermodynamic science
dealing with all types of heat engine, refrigeration, air
conditioning, and combustion, and the physical properties of the
substances used in these applications.
_________________ 8. It is defined as the reciprocal of density
or the volume per unit mass
_________________ 9. Any observable characteristics of a
system. Examples of properties are pressure, temperature,
volume and others.
_________________ 10. Its value is independent of the size of
a system and may vary from place to place within the system at
any moment i.e. pressure, temperature and density.

FEEDBACK

Prior to this subject, you may think of

thermodynamics as an ordinary subject which does not
have a relative impact on the course you enrolled with.

Upon learning things in this module, you must

already have a grasp of how thermodynamics plays an
important role in our daily activit ies.

SUMMARY

Thermodynamics is the science dealing with energy

transformations, including heat and work, and physical
properties of substances that are involved in energy
transformations.

Engineering Thermodynamics is a component of

thermodynamic science dealing with all types of heat engine,
refrigeration, air conditioning, and combustion, and the physical
properties of the substances used in these applications.

Any quantity of matter or any region of space to which

attention is focused for purposes of analysis is called a system.

A closed system is a system with fixed quantity of matter.

An open system is a system with fixed boundary and so it is
called controlled volume. An open system whose quantity of
matter is unchanged is called steady flow system otherwise the
system is called unsteady flow open system.
Page 8
 Everything outside the system boundary is referred to as
the surroundings.

A specific system whose mass and energy are not

crossing its boundary is called isolated system.

A property is any observable characteristics of a system.

Examples of properties are pressure, temperature, volume and
others.

The state of the system is its condition as specified by the

values of its properties

If the condition of the system is disturbed with the aid of

an external force, then this transformation of a system from one
state to another is called a process. The path of the process
is the series of states through which the system passes during
the process. A cycle or cyclic process is a process, which
returns the system to the state it was before the process began.
The properties of the system vary during the execution of a cycle,
as the cycle is completed all properties have been restored to
their initial values in mathematical form.

SUGGESTED READINGS

David Burghardt, Engineering Thermodynamics with

nd
Applications, 2 ed.
Robert T. Balmer, Modern Engineering Thermodynamics
Merle C. Potter and Craig W. Somerton, Theory and Problems
of Thermodynamics for Engineers (Schaum’s Outline Series)

REFERENCES

M. David Burghardt & James A. Harbach, Engineering

Thermodynamics, 4th ed.

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