Chapter 2 : Thermodynamics

From the book : International Physics Olympiad - Training and

Selection, 2nd Edi.

Translated from Chinese and edited by : idonthaveausername #9255

 Problems
1. Define the relationship between the temperature scale t∗ and the tem-
perature measurement property x as t∗ = ln(Kx), where K is a con-
stant.

(a) Let x be the pressure of the dilute gas at constant volume, and
assume that the triple point of water is t∗ = 273.16◦ . Try to
determine the relationship between the temperature scale t∗ and
the thermodynamic temperature scale.
(b) On the temperature scale t∗ , what are the freezing point and the
vapor point?
(c) Does zero degrees exist on the temperature scale t∗ ?

2. Let the temperature of a room be 1◦ C in winter and 35◦ C in summer.

Find the weight of the air in the room in two seasons (Assume the air
pressure in the room is equal during the two seasons.)

3. A basketball is driven into air at a temperature of 0◦ C until the pressure

inside the ball is 1.5 atmosphere.

(a) During the game, the temperature of the gas in the basketball
rises to 30◦ C, what is the pressure in the ball at this time?
(b) During the game, the basketball was punctured and replaced due
to air leakage. When the temperature of the gas in the sphere is
restored to 0◦ C, what percentage of the original air is finally lost?

4. Try to derive the ideal gas pressure formula p = nKT from the state
equation of the ideal gas. In the formula, p is the pressure of the ideal
gas, n is the number density of the ideal gas, that is, the number of
molecules in a unit volume, T is the absolute temperature, K is the
Boltzmann constant, K = NRA , NA is 1 mol is the number of molecules
of an ideal gas, NA is Avogadro’s constant.

5. Suppose a hydrogen balloon is free to expand to keep its internal and

external pressures equal. As the balloon rises, the balloon will continue
to expand as the atmospheric pressure decreases with height. If both
the hydrogen inside the balloon and the atmosphere outside the balloon
can be regarded as ideal gases, and ignore the acceleration of gravity

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 and the change of the molar mass of the air with height. Try to find
the change of the buoyancy force on the hydrogen balloon during the
ascent.

6. A hydrogen balloon filled with 1.05 atm (standard atmospheric pres-

sure), 10−4 kg gas rests on the ceiling. How big is the contact area
between the balloon and the ceiling? (Ignoring the weight of the bal-
loon itself, the average molar mass of air is known to be 28.8g.)

7. A thin-walled cylindrical floater with one end closed, the open end is
plunged down into a liquid with a density of ρ, and a small amount of
gas is enclosed inside at this time. When the external pressure is P0 ,
its closed end happens to be level with the horizontal liquid surface.
Prove that when the external pressure suddenly increases to 2P0 , the
relationship between the subsidence depth x of the floating-sink and
its velocity v there is:
2p0
v 2 = 2gx − ln (1 + ρgx/2p0 )
ρ
where g is the acceleration of gravity. Compared with ρ, the air density
can be neglected, the viscous resistance can also be ignored in the
process, and air can be regarded as an ideal gas.

8. In a capillary tube with constant cross-sectional area, the temperature

of an ideal gas from one end of x = 0 to the other end of x = L varies
linearly and follows the equation T = T0 + TLL−T0 x. Suppose the volume
of the capillary is V , and the pressure p is equal everywhere. Verify
that the following formula holds:
TL − T0
pV = νR
ln (TL /T0 )
where ν is the number of moles of gas in the tube.

9. In a closed container of cross-sectional area A, a piston of mass m

divides the container into two parts. The piston can slide frictionlessly
in the container. When the piston is in equilibrium, the temperature
and pressure of the gases on both sides are the same (both p ), and the
volumes are V1 and V2 , respectively (as shown in the figure). Now try
to make the piston slightly deviated from the equilibrium position, and

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 then release the piston, the piston will vibrate back and forth. If the
whole system can be regarded to be at a constant temperature, try to
find:

(a) Period of piston vibration (results are represented by p, V1 , V2 , m

and A).
(b) Ratio of time period τ at gas temperature 0◦ C and period τ ′ at
gas temperature 30◦ C.

10. The speed of an aspirator is ω/min, and the aspirator can pump out
c liters of gas per minute. Let the volume of a container be V , how
long does it take for the pressure in the container to drop from p0 to
10−2 p0 ?

11. The volume fraction of the main constituent gases in the dry air on the
ground is about nitrogen 78.1%, oxygen 20.9%, argon 1.0% . Try to
find the following quantities under standard conditions,

(a) The partial pressure of each component in atm.

(b) The density of each component.
(c) The density of dry air.
(d) The average relative molecular mass of dry air.

12. A container is placed in a mixture of oxygen and water vapor, in which

water vapor contains 20% of the mass. At t = 100◦ C, the pressure of
the mixture gas is p = 1.01325 × 105 Pa. Assuming that at t = 0◦ C,
all the water vapor condenses into water and the volume of water is
negligible relative to the container. Try to calculate the pressure p′ of
the gas in the container at 0◦ C.

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13. As shown in the figure, there is air in a sealed cylinder, a very small
amount of water at the bottom of the cylinder, and the whole system is
in equilibrium. The temperature of the gas is T , the volume of the gas is
V1 , and the pressure p1 = 2.00 atm. Now depress the piston slowly and
keep the temperature in the cylinder constant. When the gas volume
decreases to V2 = 21 V1 , when the pressure becomes p2 = 3.00 atm, try
to find its temperature T .

14. Try to prove the following by the simplified model of molecular kine-
matics:

(a) Ideal gas pressure p = 13 nmv 2 = 32 nεt , where m is the mass of

the molecule, n is the molecular number density, v 2 is the average
value of the square of the molecular velocity, εt is the average
translational energy of the molecule.
(b) The molar internal energy of a monatomic ideal gas is U = 23 RT .

15. The temperature of outer space is about 3 K, mainly consists of hy-

drogen atomic gas, with an average of one hydrogen atom per cubic
centimeter. Try to find:

(a) The pressure created by this gas in outer space.

(b) Average kinetic energy per hydrogen atom.
(c) The average value of the squared velocity of the hydrogen atoms
(i.e. v 2 ).

16. As shown in the figure, the same monoatomic gas is placed in two parts
of a container made of rigid insulating walls, and they are uniformly
mixed after removing the middle partition. Find the temperature and
pressure of the mixed gas.

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17. The rod with uniform thickness is formed by connecting rods of two
materials with lengths l1 and l2 and thermal conductivity κ1 and κ2 .
The two ends are in contact with the heat sources with temperatures T1
and T2 respectively, as shown in the figure. Try to find the temperature
and heat flux density at any point in the rod after stabilization.

18. An ideal gas of a certain mass goes from state A to state B through a
quasi-static process, as shown in the figure. Try to use the graph (or
the area enclosed by the curve) on the p − V diagram to represent the
work done by the system, the increase in internal energy and the heat
absorbed in the process.

19. There are many snow-capped mountains in the world, and the lowest
altitude at which the snow does not melt all year round is called the
snow line. It is known that the condensation heat of water vapor at

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 room temperature is approximately constant 2.43 x 106 J/kg, and the
rate of change of the mole percentage of water vapor in the atmosphere
with temperature is 1.55 x 10−4 /k and the sea level air temperature
is 27 °C. Find the height of the snow line.
20. An ideal gas undergoes a quasi-static cycle process as shown in the
figure, where AB, CD, EF are isothermal processes with temperatures
T1 , T2 and T3 respectively, BC, DE and F A are adiabatic processes. It
is known that T1 = 800K, T2 = 400K, T3 = 200K; the system absorbs
heat Q1 = 1600J during the AB process, and Q2 = 800J during the
CD process. Find:

(a) The heat Q3 released by the system during the isothermal process
of EF .
(b) The external work W ′ and efficiency of the system during the
whole cycle.

21. The working substance of a heat pump works quasi-statically between

two heat sources, one of which is lake water with a constant temperature
of t0 = 10◦ C, and the other heat source is water of mass M that is
insulated from the outside world.
(a) What is the relationship between the energy W supplied to the
heat pump and the temperature T of the water?
(b) Try to calculate the value of W when M = 1000 kg and the
temperature of water increases from t0 to t1 = 30◦ C.
(c) How many degrees can a mass of 1000 kg of water be raised by
the same amount of energy if heated directly by a thermoelectric
appliance?

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22. An adiabatic piston divides an adiabatic cylinder into two parts with a
volume of V0 . The two chambers of the cylinder are filled with the same
gas at a temperature of T0 and a pressure of p0 . Now heat the gas on
the left side until the gas on the right side of the piston is compressed to
2p0 . Assume that the movement of the piston is slow and frictionless,
and the constant-volume molar heat capacity CV,m of the gas is known.
Find:

(a) The work done on the right side of the gas compression process.
(b) Increment of final temperature, volume and internal energy ∆U1
of the gas on the right after compression.
(c) Increment of final temperature, volume and internal energy ∆U2
of the gas on the left side of the piston.
(d) The heat absorbed by the system during the whole process.

23. Inside a rigid cylindrical closed cylinder with insulating walls, there is
an adiabatic piston fitted with a small valve. An electric heater H is
installed at the end A of the cylinder, which can be used to heat the
gas.

At first, the piston is close to the inner wall of the B end of the cylinder,
the small valve L is closed, there is a certain mass of some ideal gas
in the cylinder, and its temperature is T0 (K). The friction between
the piston and the cylinder wall can be ignored. Then try to move the
piston to the center of the cylinder, fix the piston with a pin F , so that
the cylinder is divided into left and right chambers of equal volume, as
shown in the figure. In the process of moving the piston to compress
the gas, let the work done by the outside world to the gas be W , and
the gas temperature rises to T (R).

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 Now open the small valve, and after a long enough time, close it again.
Then remove the pin (that is, let the piston move freely), and heat the
gas with an electric heater. After the heating is completed and after a
certain period of time, it is known that the pressure of the gas in the
left chamber has changed to 1.5 times before heating, the volume of
the gas in the right chamber becomes 0.75 times the original volume.
Try to find: the heat transferred by the electric heater to the gas.

24. A system consists of diatomic molecules, the system temperature is T ,

and the interaction potential between atoms is:

Ep = Ep(0) (r0 /r)12 − 2 (r0 /r)6

 

Find the mean square error of the distance r between two atoms in a
molecule.

25. Try to estimate the time it takes for an air molecule to travel a distance
of 1 km under standard conditions. (It is known that the average molar
mass of an air molecule is about 29 g, the effective diameter of the
molecule is 3 × 10−10 m.)

26. As shown in the figure, a container with a small hole is filled with a
substance in which gas and liquid coexist, and the molecules of the
vapor can flow out through the small hole. Let the temperature when
the gas and liquid coexist in equilibrium is T , the heat of vaporization
is l, the molar mass of the substance is M , and the vapor can be
regarded as an ideal gas. Try to find the relationship between the
relative intensity of the molecular beam flowing out of the small hole
and the temperature.

27. It is known that 1 mol of Van Der Waal’s real gas is in a reversible
cyclic process. From state 1 to state 2, it is an isothermal process, the
temperature is T1 , and the volume changes from V1 to V2 ; from state 2

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 to state 3, it is an adiabatic process, and the volume changes from V2 to
V3 ; From state 3 to state 4 is an isothermal process, the temperature
is T2 ; from state 4 to state 1 is an adiabatic process. Try to find:

(a) Heat absorbed by the system during 1-2 process.

(b) The work done by the system in the 2-3 process.
(c) Prove that the efficiency of this loop is η = 1−T2 /T1 . (T1 , T2 , V1 , V2
and CV,m are all constants)

28. 1 mol of real gas is at the initial state (v1 , T1 ). After a polytropic pro-
cess, the temperature increases to T2 = mT1 , the polytropic exponent
of the process is n, and CV is a constant. Try to find:

(a) The heat absorbed by the system from the outside during the
process.
(b) The work done by the system to the outside world.
(c) The increment in system’s entropy.

29. Due to the convection of the atmosphere, the air will rise and fall. Since
the atmospheric pressure changes with height, the volume of the gas
will change when it rises or falls. Since the thermal conductivity of
the air is very small, the process of rising or falling of the gas can be
regarded as an adiabatic process. Find:

(a) The rate of change of atmospheric temperature with height dT /dz.

(b) Give this value in the normal temperature range.

30. As shown in the figure, a plate of area A perpendicular to the x-axis

moves slowly against the x-axis with a velocity V . The temperature of
the surrounding rarefied gas is T , the molecular number density is n,
and the molecular mass is m. Use Maxwell’s distribution law to find
the resistance of the plate in motion.

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31. The surface tension coefficient σ = 7.24×10−2 N/m of water at 1 atmo-
◦
sphere pressure
 and 4 C is known, and the isothermal compressibility
is κ = − V1 dV
dp
= 4.75 × 10−5 atm−1 . Try to find: the density of a
T
droplet of radius r = 1.0 × 10−6 cm at 44◦ C at 1 atmosphere pressure.

32. A cylindrical vessel of height L and section A is filled with an ideal gas
of molecular mass m. The temperature of the gas is known to be T (at
room temperature). Find:

(a) The constant-volume molar heat capacity CV,m of the gas.

(b) CV,m when T → 0 and when T → ∞.

33. A certain amount of liquid and its vapor are enclosed in a cylinder.
The vapor can be regarded as an ideal gas, and the heat capacities of
the liquid and gas phases are both constant. Try to derive the Clausius
equation for saturated vapor pressure:

p = Ae−L(0)/kT · T (Cgp −Clp )/R

where Cgp , Clp are the constant pressure heat capacities of vapor and
liquid respectively, L(0) is the vaporization heat when T = 0 K.

34. Two pieces of metal A and B with a large heat capacity have temper-
atures T1 and T2 respectively, and T1 > T2 . At a certain moment t,
through a thin layer of insulating material with poor thermal conduc-
tivity, the heat transfer per unit time is PQ ∆T, ∆T is the temperature
difference between the two metals. The whole system does not ex-
change heat with the outside world. Assume that the heat capacities
of metals CA and CB do not change with temperature. Try to find:

(a) The entropy change of the metal A after a short period of ∆t.
(b) After a short period of time ∆t, the total entropy change of the
two systems.
(c) After the two systems reach thermal equilibrium for a long enough
time, the overall system entropy change.

35. A drunk man starts walking at the origin shown in the figure. It is
known that the probability of his taking one step to the right is p+ , the
probability of taking one step to the left is p− , and the probability of

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 taking one step up is q+ , the probability of going one step down is q− .
Each of his steps is l long. What is the probability that he will be at
point P (whose x, y coordinates are integer multiples of l) after taking
N steps?

36. Two spheres of the same size and temperature, both painted black, one
is of copper and the other is of aluminum. They are suspended in a
cavity surrounding melting ice. It was observed that the temperature
of the aluminum ball decreased from 3◦ C to 1◦ C in 10 minutes, while
the copper ball took 14.2 minutes to undergo the same temperature
change. The known density of copper is 8.9 × 103 kg/m3 , and the
density of aluminum is 2.7 × 103 kg/m3 . Try to calculate the ratio of
the specific heat of aluminum and copper.
37. Fill a non-expandable container with water at the freezing point (Ti , pi ),
then reduce the temperature of the water to Tf , and the pressure at
this time increases to pf . Try to find:
(a) At this time, the ratio of solid water in the container to water in
various states, y, is the relationship between the unit mass and
volume of water in each phase.
(b) Let ti = 0◦ C, pi = 1.01 × 105 Pa, tf = −5◦ C, pf = 5.98 × 107 Pa;
constant pressure expansion coefficient of water in the temper-
ature range involved is α = −67 × 10−6 K−1 , isothermal com-
pression coefficient κ = 12.04 × 10−11 Pa−1 ; The volume per unit
mass of final water and ice is vl = 1.0908 × 10−3 m3 /kg, vs =
1.1928 × 10−3 m3 /kg, find the magnitude of the value of y.
38. A macroscopic sphere of mass m′ and radius r moves in a vacuum with
velocity v0 . In front of it is a ν mol rarefied ideal gas with temperature

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 T and molecular number density n. The sphere enters the gas at t = 0.
Gas is composed of single-atom molecules of mass m, and the collision
between these atoms and the sphere p is elastic. The average velocity of
the known ideal gas molecule is v̄ = 8RT /πM , which is much larger
than the initial velocity of the sphere. In the formula M is the molar
mass of the gas, M = NA m. Suppose the number of collisions between
atoms and the ball per unit time is σnv̄. Try to find:
(a) The energy change when a ball collides with an atom.
(b) The reduction rate of the average energy of the pellets and the
final average energy.
(c) System (ball + ideal gas) entropy change.
(d) The size of the σ value.
39. 1 mol of a monoatomic ideal gas goes through the cycle shown in the
figure. It is known that p2 = 2p1 , V2 = 2V1 , V1 = 2V3 . Try to find:
(a) The efficiency of the cycle.
(b) The highest point of temperature during the cycle.

40. A uniform cylinder of length L and cross-sectional area S is placed

along the x axis between x = 0 and x = L, which is adiabatic from
the outside world. When t = 0, the temperature at x = 0 is T1 ,
the temperature at x = L is T2 , and T1 > T2 , During this period,
the temperature T is distributed linearly. Assuming that the thermal
conductivity k, the specific heat c and the density ρ of the cylinder are
all constants, the thermal expansion can be ignored everywhere. Try to
derive the integral expression for the temperature T (x, t) at x at time
t.

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