BASIC THERMODYNAMICS
Thermodynamics -It is a branch of physical sciences
that treats various phenomena of energy and the
related properties of matter, especially of the laws of
transformation of heat into other forms of energy and
vice versa.
Thermodynamic system -It refers to the quantity of
matter or certain volume in space chosen for study.
 Surroundings -It is the mass or region outside
the system.
 Boundary -It is the real or imaginary surface
that separates the system from its
surroundings. It can be either fixed or
movable.
Kinds of thermodynamic system
 Closed system -It is a system in which there is
no transfer of matter across the boundary. It
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.
 Open system -It is a system in which there is a
flow of matter through the boundary. It
usually encloses the device that involves mass
flow, such as: compressor, turbine, or nozzle.
 Isolated system -It is a system in which neither
mass nor energy cross the boundaries and it is
not influenced by the surroundings.
 Adiabatic system -It is a system that has no
exchange of energy or matter with
surrounding environment.
 Steady flow system -It is a type of open system
wherein matter enters and leaves at the same
rate. Examples: Boilers, turbines
 Diathermic system -If energy crosses the
system boundaries.
Branch of thermodynamics
 Classical Thermodynamics -It is the branch of
thermodynamics that is concerned with
thermodynamic states and properties (energy,
work, and heat) and with the laws of
thermodynamics without the atomic
interpretation. This is the macroscopic
approach of thermodynamic analysis.
 Statistical Thermodynamics – It is the branch
of thermodynamics that includes the atomic
and molecular theories. It is the microscopic
approach of thermodynamics.
 Chemical Thermodynamics – It is the branch
of thermodynamics that is concerned with the
study of the interrelation of heat with
chemical reactions or with a physical change
of state within the confines of the laws of
thermodynamics.
Properties of a system
 State properties -It refers to the physical
condition of the working substance such as
temperature, pressure, density, specific
volume, specific gravity, or relative density.
 Transport properties -It refers to the
measurement of diffusion within the working
medium resulting from molecular activity, like;
viscosities, thermal conductivities, etc.
Classification of thermodynamic Properties
 Intensive properties -These are properties
which are size independent such as
temperature, pressure, and density.
 Extensive properties -These are properties
which depend on the size or extent of the
system.
Temperature
 Temperature -It is an indication or degree of
hotness and coldness and therefore a
measure of intensity of heat.
 Absolute temperature -It is the temperature
measured from absolute zero.
 Absolute zero -It is the temperature at which
the molecules stop moving. It is equivalent to
0 K or 0°R.
 Temperature interval -It is the difference
between two temperature readings from the
same scale, and the change in temperature
through which the body is heated.
Temperature scale
 Celsius scale - Also known as the Centigrade
scale, this is perhaps the most widely
accepted temperature scale used globally. In
this scale, there are 100 degrees of separation
between the boiling point and the freezing
point of water, hence the word “centigrade”,
which literally means “100 steps”. This
temperature scale is named after the Swedish
astronomer, Anders Celsius.
 Fahrenheit scale – Named after the German
physicist, Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, it is
another common scale used in some countries
most notably in the United States. In this
scale, there are 180 degrees of separation
between the boiling point and the freezing
point of water. Fahrenheit was the inventor of
the first mercury thermometer that we now
use today.
 Kelvin scale – This is the SI unit of temperature
and of course, the most common unit of
temperature adopted in the scientific
community. It is similar to the Celsius scale
wherein there are 100 degrees of separation
between the boiling point and the freezing
point of water. However, the difference lies in
 the fact that the 0 Kelvin is 273 units colder
than its equivalent value in the Celsius scale. 0
Kelvin is called absolute zero temperature. It is
the lowest temperature that any matter can
reach, or it is the temperature below which
any other value has no physical significance.
This temperature scale is named after the
British physicist named Sir William Thomson
or Lord Kelvin. In writing values of
temperature in the Kelvin scale, the symbol K
is used without the degree symbol.
 Rankine scale – Named after William John
Rankine, this is the absolute scale equivalent
of the Fahrenheit scale. This is also similar to
the Fahrenheit scale wherein there are 180
degrees of separation between the boiling
point and the freezing point of water.
 Pressure -It is the force exerted per unit area.
 Absolute pressure -It is the true pressure
measured above a perfect vacuum.
 Gage pressure -It is the pressure measured
from the level of atmospheric pressure by
most pressure recording instrument like
pressure gage and open-ended manometer.
 Atmospheric pressure -It is the pressure
obtained from barometric reading.
 Density -It is the mass per unit volume and is
also known as mass density.
 Specific volume -It is the volume per unit
mass.
 Specific gravity -It is the ratio of the density of
a certain substance to the density of water.
 Heat -It is a form of energy associated with
the kinetic random motion of large number of
molecules.
 Sensible heat -It is the heat needed to change
the temperature of the body without
changing its phase.
 Latent heat -It is the heat needed by the body
to change its phase without changing its
temperature.
 Sublimation -It is the term used to describe
the process of changing solid to gas without
passing the liquid state.
 Deposition -It is the reversed of sublimation. It
is the process of changing gas to solid without
passing the liquid state.
 Entropy -It is the measure of randomness of
the molecules of a substance.
 Enthalpy -It is the heat energy transferred to a
substance at a constant pressure process.
 Internal energy -It is the energy stored within
the body. It is the sum of the kinetic energies
of all its constituent particles plus the sum of
all the potential energies of interaction among
these particles.
 First law of thermodynamics -It states that
energy can neither be created nor destroyed;
rather it can only be transformed from one
form to another.
 Second law of thermodynamics -It states that
heat cannot be transferred from cold body to
a hot body without an input of work. It
similarly states that heat cannot be converted
100% into work. The bottom line is that an
engine must operate between a hot and a
cold reservoir. Also indicated, is that energy
has different levels of potential to do work,
and that energy cannot naturally move from
one realm of lower potential to a realm of
higher potential.
 Kelvin-Planck statement -It is impossible to
construct a heat engine which operates in a
cycle and receives a given amount of heat
from a high temperature body and does an
equal amount of work.
 Third law of thermodynamics -The total
entropy of pure substances approaches zero
as the absolute thermodynamic temperature
approaches zero.
 Zeroth law of thermodynamics -It states that
when any two bodies are in thermal
equilibrium with the third body, then they are
in thermal equilibrium with each other.
 Perfect gas -It is a theoretically ideal gas which
strictly follows Boyle’s Law and Charle’s Law of
gasses.
 Thermodynamic process -It is any change in
that a system undergoes from one equilibrium
state to another.
 Path -It is the series of states through which a
system passes during a process.
 Reversible process -It is the process that can
be reversed without leaving any trace on the
surroundings. That is, both the system and the
surroundings are returned to their initial
states at the end of process. It is also known
as quasi-equilibrium process.
 Irreversible process -It is the process that
proceeds spontaneously in one direction but
the other. Once having taken place, the
process cannot reverse itself and always
results in an increase of molecular disorder.
 Cyclic process -It is a process which gives the
same states/conditions after the system
undergoes a series of processes.
 Isometric process -It is an internally reversible
constant volume process of a working
substance. It is also known as isochoric or
isovolumic process.
 Isobaric process -It is an internally reversible
constant pressure process of a working
substance.
 Isothermal process -It is an internally
reversible constant temperature process of a
working substance.
 Isentropic -It is an internally reversible
constant entropy process of a working
substance. It is also known as reversible
adiabatic process.
 Adiabatic process - It is a reversible process in
which there is now flow of heat between a
system and its surroundings.
 Carnot cycle - It is the most efficient
hypothetical cycle which is composed of four
reversible processes: two isothermal and two
adiabatic processes.
 Rankine cycle - It is a thermodynamic cycle
derived from Carnot vapour power cycle for
overcoming its limitations. It composed of the
following cycles: two isobaric and two
adiabatic processes.
 Otto cycle - It is a constant volume
combustion cycle introduced by Nicholas A.
Otto. It composed of two isentropic and two
isometric processes.
 Diesel cycle - It is a constant pressure
combustion cycle introduced by Rudolf Diesel.
It composed of two isentropic, one isobaric
and one isometric processes.