Introduction

Basic Principles,
Concepts and
Definitions
episode1
The objects studied in thermodynamics are
called systems, and the free body diagrams of
mechanics are replaced by system diagrams
in thermodynamics.

DYSMETh1214 – Thermodynamics 1
The word thermodynamics comes from the Greek words θερμη
(therme, meaning “heat”) andδυναμις (dynamis, meaning
“power”). Ther modynamics is the study of the various
processes that change energy from one form into another (such
as conver ting heat into work) and uses variables such as
temperature, volume, and pressure.

DYSMETh1214 – Thermodynamics 1
DYSMETh1214 – Thermodynamics 1
 n ga llons
1 .1 t ri l l i o

The people of the world consume 1.06 cubic miles of oil each year as an energy
source for a wide variety of uses such as the engines shown in Figures 1.1 and
1.2.2 Coal, gas, and nuclear energy provide additional energy, equivalent to
another 1.57 mi3 of oil, making our total use of exhaustible energy sources
equal to 2.63 mi3 of oil every year. We also use renewable energy from solar,
biomass, wind (see Figure 1.3), and hydroelectric, in amounts that are equivalent
to an additional 0.37 mi3 of oil each year. This amounts to a total worldwide
energy use equivalent to 3.00 mi3 of oil each year
By a combination of processes,

DYSMETh1214 – Thermodynamics 1
DYSMETh1214 – Thermodynamics 1
 u m p
tp
H ea

Another set of processes forms a good description of a refrigerator that we use to cool
food or apply it at very low temperatures to produce a flow of cold fluid for cryogenic
surgery by freezing tissue for minimal bleeding. DYSMETh1214 – Thermodynamics 1
GETTING ANSWERS: A BASIC PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUE
 A new racecar with a JX-750 free-piston engine is
traveling on a straight level test track at a
velocity of 85.0 miles per hour.
The driver accelerates at a constant rate for 5.00
seconds, at which point the car’s velocity has
increased to 120. miph. Determine
Solution
1.the
Readacceleration
the problemofstatement
the car as it went from 85.0 to
carefully.
120.
Some mph
times you may be given 1. Read
miscellaneous information that is not 2.Sketch
needed in the solution. For example, we 3. Need
do not need to know what kind of engine 4. Know
is used in the car, but we do need to 5. How
know that the car has a constant 6.Solve
acceleration for the 5.00 s. 7. Calculate
2. Draw a sketch of the problem. Transfer
3. What are we supposed to find? We need the
acceleration of the car.
4. We know the following things: The initial velocity =
85.0 mph, the final velocity = 120. mph, and the car
accelerates for t = 5.00 s.
5. How are we going to find the car’s acceleration? In
this case, the basic physics equation that defines
a c c e l e r a t i o n i s � = ��2 /��2 = ��/�� , a n d i f t h e
acceleration a is constant, then we can integrate this
equation to get Vfinal = Vinitial + at. Note that the
 6. Now we can solve for the unknown acceleration,

7. Now all we have to do is to insert the given

numerical values and calculate the solution:
In thermodynamics, you determine the energy of a system in its many
forms and master the mechanisms by which the energy can be
converted from one form to another. A key element in this process is the
use of a consistent set of dimensions and units. A calculated
engineering quantity always has two parts, the numerical value and the
associated units. The result of any analysis must be correct in both
categories: It must have the correct numerical value and it must have
the correct units.
Metrology is the study of measurement, the source of reproducible
quantification in science and engineering. It deals with the
dimensions, units, and numbers necessary to make meaningful
measurements and calculations. It does not deal with the technology
of measurement, so it is not concerned with how measurements are
actually made.
Units provide us with a numerical scale whereby we can carry out a
measurement of a quantity. They are established quite arbitrarily
and are codified by civil law or cultural custom. How the dimension
of length ends up being measured in units of feet or meters has
nothing to do with any physical law
Intuition tells us that civilization should have
evolved using the decimal system. People have ten
fingers and ten toes, so the base 10 (decimal)
number system would seem to be the most logical
system to be adopted by prehistoric people.
However, archaeolgical evidence has shown that the
pre-Egyptian Sumerians used a base 60
(sexagesimal) number system, and ancient Egyptians
and early American Indians used a base 5 number
system. A base 12 (duodecimal) number system was
developed and used extensively during the Roman
Empire. Today, mixed remains of these ancient
number systems are deeply rooted in our culture.
.
A fundamental element of a successful
mercantile trade is that the basic
units of commerce have easily
understood subdivisions. Normally, the
larger the base number of a particular
number system, the more integer
divisors it has. For example, 10 has
only three divisors (1, 2, and 5), but
12 has five integer divisors (1, 2, 3,
4, and 6) and therefore makes a
considerably better fractional base. On
the other hand, 60 has an advantage
over 100 as a number base because the
The measurements of length and time were
undoubtedly the first to be of concern to
prehistoric people. Perhaps the measurement
of time came first, because people had to
know the relationship of night to day and
understand the passing of the seasons of the
year. The most striking aspect of our
current measure of time is that it is a
mixture of three numerical bases; decimal
(base 10) for counting days of the year,
duodecimal (base12) for dividing day and
night into equal parts (hours), and
sexagesimal (base 60) fordividing hours and
minutes into equal parts
 Thermodynamic properties and the basic units
Concept of time

The concept of time is well established. The basic unit of time is the
second(s), which in the past was defined in terms of the solar day, the
time interval for one complete revolution of the earth relative to the sun.
Since this period varies with the season of the year, an average value
over a 1-year period is called the mean solar day, and the mean solar
second is 1/86,400 of the mean solar day. In 1967, the General
Conference of Weights and Measures (CGPM) adopted a definition of the
second as the time required for a beam of cesium-133 atoms to resonate
9,192, 631,770 cycles in a cesium resonator.
For periods of time less than 1s, the prefixes milli, micro, nano, pico,
or femto, as listed in Table1.1, are commonly used. For longer
periods of time, the units minute(min), hour(h), or day (day) are
frequently used. It should be pointed out that the prefixes in Table 1.1
are used with many other units as well.
Concept of length
The concept of length this also well established. The basic unit of
l e n g t h i s t h e m e t e r ( m ) , w h i ch u s e d t o b e m a r ke d o n a
platinum–iridium bar. Currently, the CGPM has adopted a more
precise definition of the meter in terms of the speed of light
(which is now a fixed constant): The meter is the length of the
path traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,
792, 458 of a second.

Concept of mass

The fundamental unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). As adopted by

the first CGPM in 1889 and restated in 1901, it is the mass of a
certain platinum–iridium cylinder maintained under prescribed
conditions at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.
 A related unit that is used frequently in thermodynamics is the
mole(mol), defined as an amount of substance containing as many
elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12. These
elementary entities must be specified; they maybe atoms, molecules,
electrons, ions, or other particles or specific groups.

For example, 1 mol of diatomic oxygen, having a molecular mass of 32

(compared to 12 for carbon), has a mass of 0.032 kg. The mole is often
termed a gram mole, since it is an amount of substance in grams numerically
equal to the molecular mass. When using the metric SI system, we will find it
preferable to use the kilomole (kmol), the amount of substance in kilograms
numerically equal to the molecular mass, rather than the mole.
 System of Units
The system of units in use presently throughout most of the world is the
metric International System, commonly referred to as SI units (from Le
Syste`me International d’Unite´s). In this system, the second, meter, and
kilogram are the basic units for time, length, and mass, respectively, as just
defined, and the unit of force is defined directly from Newton’s second law.
The unit of force is the newton (N), which by definition is the force
required to accelerate a mass of 1 kg at the rate of 1 m/s^2:
1N=1kgm/s^2 . � = ��
The dimensions of energy are the same as the dimensions of
work, which are force × distance, and the dimensions of power
are the same as the dimensions of work divided by time, or force
× distance ÷ time. The corresponding units and their secondary
names (when they exist) are shown in Table 1.3.
 Traditional System of Units

The traditional system of units used in the United States is the

English Engineering System. In this system the unit of time is the
second, which was discussed earlier. The basic unit of length is
the foot (ft), which at present is defined in terms of the meter as
��� = �. �����. The inch (in.) is defined in terms of the foot:
����. = ���.
The unit of mass in this system is the pound mass (lbm). It
was originally defined as the mass of a certain platinum
cylinder kept in the Tower of London, but now it is defined in
terms of the kilogram as ���� = �. ����������.
A related unit is the pound mole (lb mol), which is an amount of
substance in pounds mass numerically equal to the molecular
mass of that substance. It is important to distinguish between a
In the English Engineering System of Units, the unit of force
is the pound force (lbf), defined as the force with which the
standard pound mass is attracted to the earth under
conditions of standard acceleration of gravity, which is that
at 45◦ latitude and sea level elevation, 9.806 65 m/s2 or
32.1740 ft/s2. T
Thus, it follows from Newton’s second law that ���� =
��. ��������/��
The term weight is often used with respect to a body and is
sometimes
When we say confused withweighs
that a body mass. so
Weight
much,iswe
really
meancorrectly
that this is
used only with
the force as a force.
which it is attracted to the earth (or some other
body), that is, the product of its mass and the local gravitational
acceleration. The mass of a substance remains constant with
elevation, but its weight varies with elevation.
In Table 1.2, the Technical English units system uses
force (F), length (L), and time (t) as the fundamental
dimensions. Then, the mass unit “slug” was defined such
that k1 and gc came out to be unity (1) and
dimensionless. Define a new units system in which the
force, mass, and time dimensions are taken to be
fundamental with units of lbf, lbm, and s, and the
length unit is defined such that k1 is unity (1) and
dimensionless. Call this new length unit the chunk and
find its conversion factor into the Engineering English
and SI units systems
Examples:

� = ��

� = ��