Basics of Mechanical

Engineering (Part–A)
GAURAV KUMAR

RESEARCH SCHOLAR

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

 UNIT-1
Introduction to Thermodynamics
Concepts of Systems
Control Volume
State
Properties
Equilibrium
Quasi Static Process
Reversible and Irreversible Process
Cyclic Process
Zeroth Law and Temperature
Ideal Gas
Heat and Work

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INTRODUCTION TO THERMODYNAMICS
The name thermodynamics stems from the Greek words therme (heat) and dynamics (power),
which is most descriptive of the early efforts to convert heat into power. Today the same name is
broadly interpreted to include all aspects of energy and energy transformations, including power
generation, refrigeration, and relationships among the properties of matter.
Thermodynamics is the science that deals with heat and work and those properties of
substances that bear a relation to heat and work.

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Slide 3

GK1 Thermodynamics is commonly encountered in many engineering systems and other aspects of life, and one
does not need to go very far to see some application areas of it. In fact, one does not need to go anywhere. The
heart is constantly pumping blood to all parts of the human body, various energy conversions occur in trillions
of body cells, and the body heat generated is constantly rejected to the environment. The human comfort is
closely tied to the rate of this metabolic heat rejection. We try to control this heat transfer rate by adjusting our
clothing to the environmental conditions.
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A SYSTEM AND THE CONTROL VOLUME
A system is defined as a quantity of matter or a region in space chosen for study. The mass or
region outside the system is called the surroundings. The real or imaginary surface that
separates the system from its surroundings is called the boundary.
The boundary of a system can be fixed or movable. Note that the boundary is the contact
surface shared by both the system and the surroundings. Mathematically speaking, the
boundary has zero thickness, and thus it can neither contains any mass nor occupy any volume
in space.

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 A SYSTEM AND THE CONROL VOLUME
Systems may be considered to be closed or open, depending on whether a fixed mass or a
fixed volume in space is chosen for study. A closed system (also known as a control mass)
consists of a fixed amount of mass, and no mass can cross its boundary. That is, no mass can
enter or leave a closed system. But energy, in the form of heat or work, can cross the
boundary; and the volume of a closed system does not have to be fixed. If, as a special case,
even energy is not allowed to cross the boundary, that system is called an isolated system.

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A SYSTEM AND THE CONTROL VOLUME

An open system, or a control volume, as it is often called, is a properly selected region in space.
It usually encloses a device that involves mass flow such as a compressor, turbine, or nozzle.
Flow through these devices is best studied by selecting the region within the device as the
control volume. Both mass and energy can cross the boundary of a control volume.
A large number of engineering problems involve mass flow in and out of a system and,
therefore, are modeled as control volumes.
In general, any arbitrary region in space can be selected as a control volume. There are no
concrete rules for the selection of control volumes, but the proper choice certainly makes the
analysis much easier.

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Slide 6

GK7 The boundaries of a control volume are called a control surface, and they
can be real or imaginary. In the case of a nozzle, the inner surface of the nozzle forms the real part of the
boundary, and the entrance and exit areas form the imaginary part, since there are no physical surfaces there
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GK8 A control volume can be fixed in size and shape, as in the case of a nozzle, or it may involve a moving boundary.
Most control volumes, however, have fixed boundaries and thus do not involve any moving boundaries. A
control volume can also involve heat and work
interactions just as a closed system, in addition to mass interaction.
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MACROSCOPIC VERSUS MICROSCOPIC

POINTS OF VIEW
As the word macroscopic implies, we are concerned with the gross or average effects of many
molecules. These effects can be perceived by our senses and measured by instruments.
However, what we really perceive and measure is the time-averaged influence of many
molecules. This approach comes under classical thermodynamics.
Microscopic implies, we are concerned with the single molecule effect. This comes under
statistical thermodynamics.

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Slide 7

GK9 Matter is made up of atoms that are widely spaced in the gas phase. Yet it is very convenient to disregard the
atomic nature of a substance and view it as a continuous, homogeneous matter with no holes, that is, a
continuum. The continuum idealization allows us to treat properties as point functions and to assume the
properties vary continually in space with no jump discontinuities. This idealization is valid as long as the size of
the system we deal with is large relative to the space between the molecules.
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PROPERTIES AND STATE OF A SUBSTANCE
A phase is defined as a quantity of matter that is homogeneous throughout. When more than
one phase is present, the phases are separated from each other by the phase boundaries. In
each phase the substance may exist at various pressures and temperatures or, to use the
thermodynamic term, in various states. The state may be identified or described by certain
observable, macroscopic properties; some familiar ones are temperature, pressure, and density.
Each of the properties of a substance in a given state has only one definite value, and these
properties always have the same value for a given state, regardless of how the substance arrived
at the state.

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PROPERTIES AND STATE OF A SUBSTANCE
In fact, a property can be defined as any quantity that depends on the state of the system and
is independent of the path (that is, the prior history) by which the system arrived at the given
state. Conversely, the state is specified or described by the properties.
Thermodynamic properties can be divided into two general classes: intensive and extensive. An
intensive property is independent of the 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, each
part will have the same value of intensive properties as the original and half the value of the
extensive properties. Pressure, temperature, and density are examples of intensive properties.
Mass and total volume are examples of extensive properties. Extensive properties per unit mass,
such as specific volume, are intensive properties.

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EQUILIBRIUM
Frequently we will refer not only to the properties of a substance but also to the properties of a
system. When we do so, we necessarily imply that the value of the property has significance for the
entire system, and this implies equilibrium.
For example, if the gas that composes the system (control mass) is in thermal equilibrium, the
temperature will be the same throughout the entire system, and we may speak of the temperature as
a property of the system.
We may also consider mechanical equilibrium, which is related to pressure. If a system is in
mechanical equilibrium, there is no tendency for the pressure at any point to change with time as
long as the system is isolated from the surroundings.
a system is in chemical equilibrium if its chemical composition does not change with time, that is, no
chemical reactions occur.
When a system is in equilibrium regarding all possible changes of state, we say that the system is in
thermodynamic equilibrium.
system will not be in equilibrium unless all the relevant equilibrium criteria are satisfied.

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GK10 There will be variation in pressure with elevation because of the influence of gravitational
forces, although under equilibrium conditions there will be no tendency for the pressure
at any location to change. However, in many thermodynamic problems, this variation in
pressure with elevation is so small that it can be neglected.
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PROCESSES 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 completely, one should specify the initial and final states of the
process, as well as the path it follows, and the interactions with the surroundings.
when a process proceeds in such a manner that the system remains infinitesimally close to an
equilibrium state at all times, it is called a quasi-static, or quasi-equilibrium, process.
A quasi-equilibrium process can be viewed 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 other parts.

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Slide 11

GK11 When a gas in a piston-cylinder device is

compressed suddenly, the molecules near the face of the piston will not
have enough time to escape and they will have to pile up in a small region
in front of the piston, thus creating a high-pressure region there. Because of
this pressure difference, the system can no longer be said to be in equilibrium, and this makes the entire process
nonquasi-equilibrium. However, if
the piston is moved slowly, the molecules will have sufficient time to redistribute and there will not be a
molecule pileup in front of the piston. As a
result, the pressure inside the cylinder will always be nearly uniform and
will rise at the same rate at all locations. Since equilibrium is maintained at
all times, this is a quasi-equilibrium process.
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PROCESSES AND CYCLES

The prefix iso- is often used to designate a process for which a particular property remains
constant. An isothermal process, for example, is a process during which the temperature T
remains constant; an isobaric process is a process during which the pressure P remains constant;
and an isochoric (or isometric) process is a process during which the specific volume v remains
constant.
When a system in a given initial state goes through a number of different changes of state or
processes and finally returns to its initial state, the system has undergone a cycle. Therefore, at
the conclusion of a cycle, all the properties have the same value they had at the beginning.
Steam (water) that circulates through a steam power plant undergoes a cycle.

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Slide 12

GK12 he terms steady and uniform are used frequently in engineering, and thus it
is important to have a clear understanding of their meanings. The term
steady implies no change with time. The opposite of steady is unsteady, or
transient. The term uniform, however, implies no change with location over
a specified region. These meanings are consistent with their everyday use.
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ENERGY
Energy has been defined as the capability to produce an effect.
Energy can be stored within a system and can be transferred (as heat, for example) from one system to
another.
Let heat be transferred to H2O. During this process the temperature of the liquid and vapor (steam) will
increase, and eventually all the liquid will become vapor. From the macroscopic point of view, we are
concerned only with the energy that is transferred as heat, the change in properties such as temperature
and pressure, and the total amount of energy (relative to some base) that the H2O contains at any instant.
Thus, questions about how energy is stored in the H2O do not concern us. From a microscopic viewpoint,
we are concerned about the way in which energy is stored in the molecules. We might be interested in
developing a model of the molecule so that we can predict the amount of energy required to change the
temperature a given amount.

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GK13 The specific volume of a substance is defined as the volume per unit mass and is given
the symbol v. The density of a substance is defined as the mass per unit volume, and it
is therefore the reciprocal of the specific volume. Density is designated by the symbol ρ.
Specific volume and density are intensive properties.
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GK14 When dealing with liquids and gases, we ordinarily speak of pressure; for solids we speak
of stresses. The pressure in a fluid at rest at a given point is the same in all directions, and
we define pressure as the normal component of force per unit area.
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EQUALITY OF TEMPERATURE
We are aware of temperature first of all as a sense of hotness or coldness when we touch an
object.
We also learn early that when a hot body and a cold body are brought into contact, the hot
body becomes cooler and the cold body becomes warmer. If these bodies remain in contact for
some time, they usually appear to have the same hotness or coldness.
We may say, therefore, that two bodies have equality of temperature if, when they are in
thermal communication, no change in any observable property occurs.

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THE ZEROTH LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

The zeroth law of thermodynamics states that when two bodies have equality of temperature
with a third body, they in turn have equality of temperature with each other.
This law is really the basis of temperature measurement.

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GK15 Every time a body has equality of temperature with the thermometer, we can say that the
body has the temperature we read on the thermometer. The problem remains of how to relate
temperatures that we might read on different mercury thermometers or obtain from different
temperature-measuring devices, such as thermocouples and resistance thermometers.
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TEMPERATURE SCALES
Temperature scales enable us to use a common basis for temperature measurements, and
several have been introduced throughout history.
Scales are commonly used for measuring temperature, namely, the Fahrenheit (after Gabriel
Fahrenheit, 1686–1736) and the Celsius. The Celsius scale was formerly called the centigrade
scale but is now designated the Celsius scale after Anders Celsius (1701–1744), the Swedish
astronomer who devised this scale.
All temperature scales are based on some easily reproducible states such as the freezing and
boiling points of water, which are also called the ice point and the steam point, respectively.

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WORK
Work is usually defined as a force F acting through a displacement x, where the displacement is
in the direction of the force.
However, when treating thermodynamics from a macroscopic point of view, it is advantageous
to link the definition of work with the concepts of systems, properties, and processes. We
therefore define work as follows: Work is done by a system if the sole effect on the surroundings
(everything external to the system) could be the raising of a weight.
Work done by a system is considered positive and work done on a system is considered
negative.
In general, work is a form of energy in transit, that is, energy being transferred across a system
boundary.

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GK17 The unit for work in SI units is

called the joule (J).
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GK19 1J=1N-M
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GK20 Power is the time rate of doing work and is designated by the symbol W˙ : W˙ ≡ δW/dt. The unit for power is a
rate of work of one joule per second, which is a watt (W):
1 W = 1 J/s
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 WORK DONE AT THE MOVING BOUNDARY
OF A SIMPLE COMPRESSIBLE SYSTEM
Consider as a system the gas contained in a cylinder and piston.
Remove one of the small weights from the piston, which will cause the piston to move
upward a distance dL. We can consider this quasi-equilibrium process and calculate the
amount of work W done by the system during this process. The total force on the piston is
PA, where P is the pressure of the gas and A is the area of the piston. Therefore, the work
δW is

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WORK DONE AT THE MOVING BOUNDARY
OF A SIMPLE COMPRESSIBLE SYSTEM
We use as an example a compression process such as occurs during the compression of air in a cylinder.
Let us assume that this compression was a quasi-equilibrium process and that during the process the
system passed through the states shown by the line connecting states 1 and 2 on the P–V diagram. The
assumption of a quasi-equilibrium process is essential here because each point on line 1–2 represents a
definite state, and these states correspond to the actual state of the system only if the deviation from
equilibrium is infinitesimal. The work done on the air during this compression process can be found by
integrating the previous equation.
It is clear from the P–V diagram that the work done during this process, is represented by the area under
curve 1–2, area a–1–2–b–a. In this example the volume decreased, and area a–1–2–b–a represents work
done on the system. If the process had proceeded from state 2 to state 1 along the same path, the same
area would represent work done by the system.

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 WORK DONE AT THE MOVING BOUNDARY
OF A SIMPLE COMPRESSIBLE SYSTEM
Further consideration of a P–V diagram, leads to another important conclusion. It is possible to go from state 1 to state
2 along many different quasi-equilibrium paths, such as A, B, or C. Since the area under each curve represents the work
for each process, the amount of work done during each process not only is a function of the end states of the process
but also depends on the path followed in going from one state to another. For this reason, work is called a path function
or, in mathematical parlance, δW is an inexact differential.
This concept leads to a brief consideration of point and path functions or, to use other terms, exact and inexact
differentials. Thermodynamic properties are point functions, a name that comes from the fact that for a given point on a
diagram or surface the state is fixed, and thus there is a definite value for each property corresponding to this point. The
differentials of point functions are exact differentials, and the integration is simply
Thus, we can speak of the volume in state 2 and the volume in state 1, and the change in volume depends only on the
initial and final states.

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WORK DONE AT THE MOVING BOUNDARY
OF A SIMPLE COMPRESSIBLE SYSTEM
Work, however, is a path function, for, as has been indicated, the work done in a quasi-
equilibrium process between two given states depends on the path followed. The differentials of
path functions are inexact differentials, and the symbol δ will be used in this book to designate
inexact differentials (in contrast to d for exact differentials). Thus, for work, we write
It would be more precise to use the notation 1W2A, which would indicate the work done during
the change from state 1 to state 2 along path A. However, the notation 1W2 indicates that the
process between states 1 and 2 has been specified. Note that we never speak about the work in
the system in state 1 or state 2, and thus we never write W2 − W1.
The relationship between P and V makes it possible to fit an analytical relationship between
them. We may then integrate directly.

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WORK DONE AT THE MOVING BOUNDARY
OF A SIMPLE COMPRESSIBLE SYSTEM
One common example of this second type of functional relationship is a process called a
polytropic process, one in which
throughout the process. The exponent n may be any value from −∞ to +∞, depending on the
process. For this type of process, we can integrate.
Note that the resulting equation, is valid for any exponent n except n = 1. Where n = 1,

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HEAT
Heat is defined as the form of energy that is transferred across the boundary of a system at a given
temperature to another system (or the surroundings) at a lower temperature by virtue of the
temperature difference between the two systems.
That is, heat is transferred from the system at the higher temperature to the system at the lower
temperature, and the heat transfer occurs solely because of the temperature difference between the
two systems.
Heat can be identified only as it crosses the boundary. Thus, heat is a transient phenomenon.
Heat, like work, is a form of energy transfer to or from a system. Therefore, the units for heat, and
for any other form of energy as well, are the same as the units for work.
Heat transferred to a system is considered positive, and heat transferred from a system is considered
negative. Thus, positive heat represents energy transferred to a system, and negative heat represents
energy transferred from a system. The symbol Q represents heat. A process in which there is no heat
transfer (Q = 0) is called an adiabatic process.

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HEAT
From a mathematical perspective, heat, like work, is a path function and is recognized as an
inexact differential. That is, the amount of heat transferred when a system undergoes a change
from state 1 to state 2 depends on the path that the system follows during the change of state.
Since heat is an inexact differential, the differential is written as δQ. On integrating, we write

In words, 1Q2 is the heat transferred during the given process between states 1 and 2. The rate
at which heat is transferred to a system is designated by the symbol Q˙ :

It is also convenient to speak of the heat transfer per unit mass of the system, q, often termed
specific heat transfer, which is defined a

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COMPARISON OF HEAT AND WORK

Heat and work are both transient phenomena. Systems never possess heat or work, but either
or both cross the system boundary when a system undergoes a change of state.
Both heat and work are boundary phenomena. Both are observed only at the boundary of the
system, and both represent energy crossing the boundary.
Both heat and work are path functions and inexact differentials.

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GK23 It should also be noted that in our sign convention, +Q represents heat transferred to the system and thus is
energy added to the system, and +W represents work done by the system and thus is energy leaving the system.
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KEY CONCEPTS AND FORMULAS

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