ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 03-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

Name(s) (up to 4 students per homework set):

Due: a.
In class, Tuesday b.
April 29, 2014 c.
d.
Problem 1

a. A gas contained within a piston–cylinder assembly undergoes three processes in series:

Process 1–2: Constant volume from P1 = 1 bar, V1 = 4 m3 to state 2, where P2 = 2 bar. [Answer: 1W2 =0 kJ]
Process 2–3: Compression to V2 = 2 m3, during which the pressure–volume relationship is PV =
constant. [Answer: 2W3 = -554.5 kJ]

Process 3–4: Constant pressure to state 4, where V4 = 1 m3. [Answer: 3W4 = -400 kJ]

Sketch the processes in series on P – V coordinates and evaluate the work for each process, in kJ.
b. Carbon monoxide gas (CO) contained within a piston–cylinder assembly undergoes three processes in
series:
Process 1–2: Expansion from P1 = 5 bar, V1 = 0.2 m3 to V2 = 1 m3, during which the pressure-volume
relationship is PV = constant. [Answer: 1W2 = 160.9 kJ]

Process 2–3: Constant-volume heating from state 2 to state 3, where P3 = 5 bar. [Answer: 2W3 = 0 kJ]

Process 3–1: Constant-pressure compression to the initial state. [Answer: 3W1 = -400 kJ]

Sketch the processes in series on P – V coordinates and evaluate the work for each process, in kJ.
c. Air contained within a piston–cylinder assembly undergoes three processes in series:
Process 1–2: Compression1 at constant pressure from P1 = 68.9 kPa, V1 = 0.11 m3 to state 2.
Process 2–3: Constant-volume heating to state 3, where P3 = 344.7 kPa.
Process 3–1: Expansion to the initial state, during which the pressure-volume relationship is PV =
constant.
Sketch the processes in series on P – V coordinates. Evaluate (i) the volume at state 2, in m3, and (ii) the
work for each process, in kJ.
d. Air contained within a piston–cylinder assembly undergoes two processes in series:
Process 1–2: Expansion at constant pressure from P1 = 150 kPa, V1 = 0.1 m3 to V2 = 0.2 m3.
Process 2–3: Expansion with a linearly rising pressure from P2 = 150 kPa, V2 = 0.2 m3 to P3 = 300 kPa,
V3 = 0.4 m3.
Sketch the processes in series on P – V coordinates. Evaluate (i) the pressure when the volume reaches
0.3 m3, and (ii) the work for each process, in kJ.
1
Compression = Reduction in volume

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ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 03-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

Problem 2

a. A spherical balloon contains 4.5 kg of air at 206.8 kPa and 171.3°C. The balloon material is such that
the pressure inside is always proportional to the square of the diameter. Determine the work done when
the volume of the balloon doubles as a result of heat transfer. Answer: 748 kJ

b. A spherical balloon contains 2 kg of ammonia at 0°C, with 60% quality. The balloon material is such
that the pressure inside is always proportional to the diameter squared. Determine the work done when
the final pressure reaches 600 kPa as a result of heat transfer. Answer: 117.5 kJ

c. A balloon initially contains air at 100 kPa. The balloon material is such that the pressure inside is always
proportional to the diameter. The balloon is blown up with air from a starting volume of 1 m3 to a
volume of 3 m3. Find the final pressure and mass of air, assuming it is at 25°C, and the work done by the
air. Answers: 144.2 kPa, 5.056 kg, 249.5 kJ

d. A piston/cylinder contains propane at 120°C, 1.5 MPa. It is cooled in a polytropic process to 62°C, 0.7
MPa. Find the polytropic exponent and the work done during the process, in kJ/kg. Answer: 1W2 = 249.5 kJ
Problem 3

a. A piston–cylinder assembly fitted with a spring. The cylinder contains water, initially at 538°C, and the
spring is in a vacuum. The piston face, which has an area of 0.01 m2, is initially at x1 = 50.8 cm. The
water is cooled until the piston face is at x2 = 42.9 cm. The force exerted by the spring varies linearly
with x according to Fspring = kx, where k = 35 kN/m. Friction between
the piston and cylinder is negligible. For the water, determine
1. the initial and final pressures, each in bar.
2. the amount of water present, in kg.
3. the final temperature, in °C.
4. the work, in kJ.
5. Sketch the P-υ diagram. Answers: (1) 18 bar, 15 bar , (2) 0.024 kg (3) 327°C (4) -1.29 kJ.

b. A frictionless piston–cylinder device initially contains air at 200 kPa and 0.2 m3. At
this state, a linear spring is touching the piston but exerts no force on it. The air is
now heated to a final state of 0.5 m3 and 800 kPa. Determine
1. the total work done by the air and
2. the work done against the spring. Also,
3. show the process on a P-v diagram. Answers: (1) 150 kJ, (2) 90 kJ

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ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 03-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

c. A Warm air is contained in a piston-cylinder assembly oriented horizontally as shown. The air cools
slowly from an initial volume of 0.003 m3 to a final volume of 0.002 m3. During the process, the spring
exerts a force that varies linearly from an initial value of 900 N to a final value of zero. The atmospheric
pressure is 100 kPa, and the area of the piston face is 0.018
m2. Friction between the piston and the cylinder wall can
be neglected. For the air in the piston-cylinder assembly,
determine
1. the initial and final pressures, each in kPa and atm.
Would the answers change if the cylinder contains
liquid water instead?
2. the spring constant (stiffness), in kN/m.
3. the work done during the process, in J.
4. Show the process on a sketch of P-v diagram
Answers: (1) P1 = 150 kPa = 1.48 atm , P2 = 100 kPa = 0.99 atm , NO (2) 16.2 kN/m, (3) -125 J.

d. A 5-kg piston in a cylinder with diameter of 100 mm is loaded with a linear spring and the outside
atmospheric pressure is 100 kPa, as shown. The spring exerts
no force on the piston when it is at the bottom of the cylinder,
and for the state shown, the pressure is 400 kPa with volume
0.4 L. The valve is opened to let some air in, causing the
piston to rise 2 cm.
1. Determine the spring constant (stiffness), in kN/m.
2. Find the final pressure. Would the answers change if the
cylinder contains liquid water instead?
3. Determine the work done, in J.
4. Show the process on a sketch of P-v diagram. Answers: (1) 46 kN/m, (2) 515 kPa, NO, (3) 48.8 J.

Problem 4

a. Assume the same piston-cylinder setup described in Problem 4.a (HW#2). Redo the problem and then
determine the work done. Use the property tables provided in the textbook Answers: (5) 1782 kJ

b. Assume the same piston-cylinder setup described in Problem 4.b (HW#2). Redo the problem and then
determine the work done during the process. Answers: (5) 4.9 kJ

c. Assume the same piston-cylinder setup described in Problem 4.c (HW#2). Redo the problem and then
determine the work done during the process. Answers: (1) 1.8 bar , (2) 86.9°C, (4) 1.4483 bar , 66.5% (5) 13.3 kg (6) – 252 kJ

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ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 03-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

d. Assume the same piston-cylinder setup described in Problem 4.d (HW#2). Redo the problem and then
determine the work done during the process. Answers: (1) 2 bar , (2) 5.4 m3, (3) -25.43°C, 9.03 kg (4) -48.68°C, 18% (6) -684 kJ

Challenge Problem
Consider the piston/cylinder arrangement shown. The 350-kg frictionless piston is free to move between two
sets of stops. When the piston rests on the lower stops, the enclosed volume is 5 L. When the piston reaches the
upper stops, the volume is 25 L. For the initial state shown, the cylinder contains saturated liquid water at 100°C
and the piston, whose cross-sectional area is 0.035 m2, rests on the lower stops. The system is now heated, causing
the piston to rise, and encounter a linear spring whose spring constant is 550 kN/m when the volume reaches 10
L. The heating continues until the pressure reaches 6 MPa.
1. What is the pressure when the piston leaves the lower stops? Answer: 198.1 kPa ≈ 2 bar

2. What is the temperature when the piston first encounters the spring (when the volume is 10 L)? Answer: 120.2°C.

3. Determine whether or not the piston reaches the upper stops. Answer: It does NOT reach! PV = 25 L = 6.9 MPa > Pfinal = 6 MPa

4. Determine the final volume and temperature. Answers: 22.9 m3 , 275.6°C.

5. Determine the work done during the process. Answer: 41 kJ

6. Show the heating process on a sketch of P- v diagram.

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 Chapter 05: First Law of Thermodynamics for a Closed System
ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 04-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

Name(s) (up to 4 students per homework set):

Due: a.
In class, Tuesday b.
April 29, 2014 c.
d.
Conceptual Questions

a. Why is dE used to denote the energy change during a process, but the heat and work transfers are simply
written as ? 1st Law in a differential form:
b. An ideal gas contained in a piston-cylinder device is undergoing an isochoric, cooling process.
Neglecting the kinetic and potential effects, would you expect the internal energy of the system to:
(i) increase? (ii) decrease? (ii) be undefined due to insufficient information? Explain.
c. Water at 1MPa and 90ºC has an enthalpy, in kJ/kg, of roughly
(i) 379 (ii) 378 (iii) 374 (iv) 2000
d. Two liquids (A, B) with the same mass have the same temperature initially. Now same amount of heat is
supplied to A and B over the same period of time. Then the
temperature of A turns out to be higher than B. Which liquid
has a higher specific heat? Explain.
e. For the cycle shown in the figure, find the net heat transfer and
work output if water is contained in a cylinder.
Answers: Wnet = Qnet = 1926 kJ

Problem 1

a. A system undergoes a cycle consisting of

b. Calculate the change in enthalpy of air
the three processes listed in the table.
which is heated from 300 K to 700 K using
Compute the missing values a, b, c and d.
i. constant specific heat ratio, k = 1.418
All quantities are in kJ.
ii. cp = 0.946 + 0.213 × 10 -3 T – 0.031 ×
Answers: a = 20 kJ, b = 5 kJ, c = 10 kJ, d = 30 kJ
10-6 T2.
Process Q kJ W kJ ∆E iii. Table A-20
1→2 a 10 10
iv. Table A-21
2→3 b -5 c
3→1 10 d -20 v. Table A-22
Answers: (i) 402.8 kJ/kg, (ii) 417.7 kJ/kg, (iii)
416 kJ/kg, (iv) 427.3 kJ/kg, (v) 413.1 kJ/kg

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ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 04-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

Problem 2

a. The frictionless piston-cylinder assembly contains 1 kg of nitrogen. The initial volume and pressure in
the cylinder is 1 m3 and 1 atm, respectively. Heat transfer to the nitrogen during an isobaric process
occurs until the volume is doubled. Sketch the process on P – V and T – V diagrams. Assuming the
nitrogen behaves as an ideal gas, determine the heat
transfer during the process, in kJ, using
i. constant specific ratio, k = 1.4.
ii. Table A-20
iii. Table A-21
iv. Table A-23
Answers: (i) ≈ 350 kJ/kg, (ii) ≈ 359 kJ/kg, (iii) 357.1 kJ/kg, (iv) 357.1 kJ/kg

b. An ideal gas contained within a piston–cylinder assembly undergoes three processes in series:
Process 1–2: The gas is expanded isothermally from P1 = 15 bar, T1 = 550 K and V1 = 0.15 m3 to 4
times the initial volume.
Process 2–3: It is then cooled to T3 = 290 K at constant volume.
Process 3–1: It is further compressed back polytropically to its initial state.
i. Sketch the processes in series on P – V coordinates.
ii. Calculate the pressure at the end of the constant volume process. Answer: P3 = 1.98 bar
iii. Evaluate the work for each process, in kJ. Answer: 1W2 = 311.9 kJ, 2W3 = 0, 3W1 = -230.87 kJ

iv. Determine the net work done and heat transfer during the cycle. Answer: Wnet = Qnet = 81.03 kJ

c. A spherical balloon contains 2 kg of ammonia at 0°C, with 60% quality. The balloon material is such
that the pressure inside is always proportional to the diameter squared. Determine the work done and the
heat transfer when the final pressure reaches 600 kPa as a result of heat transfer. Answer: 1W2 = 117.5 kJ

d. A rigid tank A of volume 0.6 m3 contains 3 kg of water at 120°C, and a rigid tank B is 0.4 m3 with water
at 600 kPa, 200°C. They are connected to a piston-cylinder initially empty with closed valves as shown.
The pressure in the cylinder should be 800 kPa to float the piston. Now the valves are slowly opened and
heat is transferred so that the water reaches a uniform state at 250°C with the valves open. Determine:
i. whether the piston moves up or remains fixed after the
water comes to a uniform state. Answer: up ↑

ii. the final volume, in m3. Answer: 1.21 m3

iii. the final pressure, in bar. Answer: 8 bar

iv. the work done during the process, in kJ. Answer: 170 kJ

v. the heat transfer in the process, in MJ. Answer: 5.5 MJ

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ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 04-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

Problem 3

a. A piston–cylinder assembly fitted with a spring. The cylinder

contains water, initially at 538°C, and the spring is in a vacuum. The
piston face, which has an area of 0.01 m2, is initially at x1 = 50.8 cm.
The water is cooled until the piston face is at x2 = 42.9 cm. The force
exerted by the spring varies linearly with x according to Fspring = kx,
where k = 35 kN/m. Friction between the piston and cylinder is
negligible. For the water, Neglecting kinetic and potential effects, determine
1. the initial and final pressures, each in bar. 2. the amount of water present, in kg.
3. the final temperature, in °C. 4. the work and heat transfer, in kJ.
5. Sketch the P-υ diagram. Answers: (1) 18 bar, 15 bar , (2) 0.024 kg (3) 327°C (4) -1.29 kJ.

b. A frictionless piston–cylinder device initially contains 0.1 kg of air at 200 kPa

and 0.02 m3. At this state, a linear spring is touching the piston but exerts no
force on it. The air is now heated to a final state of 0.05 m3 and 800 kPa.
Neglecting kinetic and potential effects, determine
i. the total work done by the air.
ii. the work done against the spring.
iii. the heat transfer during the process, in kJ. Also,
iv. show the process on a P-v diagram.
Answers: (i) 15 kJ, (ii) 9 kJ

c. A Warm air is contained in a piston-cylinder assembly oriented horizontally as shown. The air cools
slowly from an initial volume of 0.003 m3 to a
final volume of 0.002 m3. During the process, the
spring exerts a force that varies linearly from an
initial value of 900 N to a final value of zero. The
atmospheric pressure is 100 kPa, and the area of
the piston face is 0.018 m2. Friction between the
piston and the cylinder wall can be neglected. For the air in the piston-cylinder assembly, determine
i. the initial and final pressures, each in kPa and atm.
ii. the spring constant (stiffness), in kN/m.
iii. the work done during the process and the heat transfer, in J.
iv. Show the process on a sketch of P-v diagram
Answers: (i) P1 = 150 kPa = 1.48 atm , P2 = 100 kPa = 0.99 atm , (ii) 16.2 kN/m, (ii) -62.5 J.

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ME 210 – Thermodynamics I HW Set # 04-Spring 2014 Instructor: ‫عمار قويشة‬

d. Consider the piston/cylinder arrangement shown. The 350-kg frictionless

piston is free to move between two sets of stops. When the piston rests on
the lower stops, the enclosed volume is 5 L. When the piston reaches the
upper stops, the volume is 25 L. For the initial state shown, the cylinder
contains saturated liquid water at 100°C and the piston, whose cross-
sectional area is 0.035 m2, rests on the lower stops. The system is now
heated, causing the piston to rise, and encounter a linear spring whose
spring constant is 550 kN/m when the volume reaches 10 L. The heating
continues until the pressure reaches 6 MPa.
i. What is the pressure when the piston leaves the lower stops? Answer: 198.1 kPa ≈ 2 bar

ii. What is the temperature when the piston first encounters the spring? Answer: 120.2°C.

iii. Determine whether the piston reaches the upper stops. Answer: It does NOT reach! PV = 25 L = 6.9 MPa > Pfinal = 6 MPa

iv. Determine the final volume and temperature. Answers: 22.9 m3 , 275.6°C.

v. Determine the work done during the process, in kJ. Answer: 41 kJ

vi. Determine the heat transfer during the process, in kJ.

vii. Show the heating process on a sketch of P- v diagram.

Challenge Problem***
As shown, a frictionless piston-cylinder arrangement contains 0.01 kg of helium at T1 = 27°C. The piston has a
cross-sectional area of A = 0.2 m2. For the
initial state shown, the piston face is at x = 0,
and the spring exerts no force on the piston. As
a result of heat transfer, the helium expands
against the linear spring with a spring constant
of 1000 kN/m until T2 = 2000 K. The force
exerted by the spring on the piston as the gas
expands varies linearly with x according to
Fspring = kx, where k is the spring constant.
i. Draw a sketch, clearly showing the thermodynamic system, the boundary and the surroundings.
ii. Determine the initial and final pressures, in kPa (gage). Answers: 0 kPa (gage) , 424 kPa (gage)

iii. Determine the work done during the process, in kJ. Answer: 5.29 kJ

iv. Determine the heat transfer during the process, in kJ. Answer: 58.25 kJ, cp = 5R/2

v. Show the process on a sketch of a P - V diagram, and label the initial state 1 and the final state 2.

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