CHAPTER ONE

Introductory Concepts and

Definitions

By: Tsegaye Seyoum

 Objective
• To introduce you to some of the fundamental

concepts and definitions that are used in the

study of Engineering Thermodynamics.

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 Thermodynamics and Energy
• Thermodynamics can be defined as the science of
energy.
• Thermodynamics is a Science that deals with
heat and work and the changes they can produce.
• e.g. change of temperature (T), pressure (P) etc.
• Thermodynamics is the study of the relationship
between work, heat, and energy.
• Thermodynamics deals with the conversion of
energy from one form to another.
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 Applications of
Thermodynamics

The human body

Air-conditioning Airplanes
systems

Car radiators Power plants Refrigeration systems

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Applications of Thermodynamics
Heat transfer to
Example
cooling water or
atmospheric air

Fuel + Air Movement of car

Heat engine
e.g. Car engine or
(or power plant)
Burn to produce Electrical energy
HEAT WORK

Products of combustion
Exhaust

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Microscopic and Macroscopic Approach

To study the behavior (changes in T & P) of substances we have 2 approaches

Microscopic:

Study behavior of each atom & molecule (Quantum mechanics)

Macroscopic:

Study average behavior of many atom & molecule

a) Find the average behavior based on probability theory (Statistical thermodynamics)

b) Find the average behavior using instruments (Classical thermodynamics)

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 Classical Thermodynamics

We study the average behavior of many atoms/molecules using instruments.

e.g. average pressure (using a pressure measuring device)
average temperature (using a thermometer).

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 Thermodynamic System
• In thermodynamics system (simply system) is defined as a
quantity of matter or a region in space chosen for study.
Or simply, what ever we want to study is system.
• Everything external to the system is called the
surroundings.
 Surrounding is the rest of the universe.
 Universe = System + Surrounding
• The real or imaginary surface that separates the system
from its surroundings is called the boundary.
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• The boundary of a system can be fixed or movable.
• 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.

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 Closed, Open, Adiabatic and Isolated
Systems
• Thermodynamic system may be classified as:
1. Closed System According to its mass interaction with
2. Open System the surrounding
3. Adiabatic System Only No heat interaction
4. Isolated System No mass, heat and work interaction
(No mass and energy interaction with the surrounding)

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 1. Closed System
• Also called non-flow system.
• Consists of a fixed amount of mass and no mass may cross
the system.
• The closed system boundary may move.
• Energy in the form of heat and work can cross the
boundaries of a closed system.

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 Example
• Sealed tanks
• Piston cylinder device
• Refrigeration system

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 2. Open System
• Also called flow system.
• Mass as well as energy crosses the boundary.
• It is called a control surface because both mass and
energy can across the boundary of a control volume.

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 Example
• Pumps
• Compressor
• Heat exchanger
• Engines

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 3. Adiabatic System
• Boundaries do not allow heat transfer to take place across
them.
• An adiabatic system is thermally insulated from its
environment.
• It can be open or closed system.
• It can exchange energy in the form of work only. If it does
not, it becomes isolated.

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 4. Isolated System
• A general system of fixed mass where no heat or work
may cross the boundary.
• A closed system with no energy crossing the boundaries
and is normally a collection of a main system and its
surrounding that are exchanging mass and energy
among themselves. Surr
Surr Heat
Mass
Isolated
System
System
Surr Heat Mass
Surr

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State, Equilibrium, Process and Properties
• 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.
 State
• Condition of the system at an instant of time as described
or measured by its properties.
• Consider a system not undergoing any change. The
properties can be measured or calculated throughout the
entire system. This gives us a set of properties that
completely describes the condition of a state.
• At a given state, all the properties are known; changing
one property changes the state.

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 The state postulate

The state of a simple compressible system is completely

specified by two independent, intensive properties

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 Property
• Any characteristic of a system is called a property.
• Some familiar properties are pressure (P), temperature (T), volume (V), and mass (m).
• There are two types of property; intensive or extensive
• Intensive properties are those that are independent of the size of a system.
» Temperature,
» Pressure
» Age
» Color
• Extensive properties are those that are dependent on the size of the system.
» Mass
» Volume
» Total energy

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Specific extensive properties
Extensive properties per unit mass are called
Specific properties

V
v (specific volume)
m
e.g.
E
e (specific energy)
m

Tsegaye Seyoum (Msc) 21

 Equilibrium
• Properties are defined when the system is in Equilibrium.
• The word equilibrium implies a state of balance.
• A system is said to be in thermodynamic equilibrium if it
maintains thermal (uniform temperature), mechanical
(uniform pressure), phase (the mass of two phases, e.g ice
and liquid water, in equilibrium) and chemical
equilibrium.

Before After

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 Process
• When any of the properties of a system change, the
state changes and the system is said to have undergone
a process.
• A process is a transformation from one state to another.

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 P
State 2

Process path

State 1

System

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• In most of the process that we will study, one
thermodynamic property is held constant.
• Some of the process are:
Process Property held constant
Isobaric
Isothermal
Isochoric
Isentropic
Isenthalpic Enthalpy

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 The Steady-Flow Process
• The terms steady and uniform are used frequently
in engineering.
• The term Steady implies no change with time.
• The opposite of steady is unsteady, or transient.
• The term uniform implies no change with location
over a specified region

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• A Devices that operates for long periods of time under
the same conditions, and they are classified as steady-
flow devices.
• During a steady-flow process, fluid properties within
the control volume may change with position but not
with time.
• The mass and energy contents of
a control volume remain constant.
Ex. Turbines, Pumps, Boilers,
Condensers, and Heat Exchangers

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 Cycle
• Series of process in which the initial state of the first
process is identical to the final state of the last
process.
P Process A
2

Process B
1

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 Point Function
• When two properties locate a point on the
graph (Co-ordinate axis) then those properties
are called as Point Function.
• Examples: Pressure, Volume, Temperature,
etc.
• It can be represented by an exact differential.
i.e.

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 Path Function
• There are certain quantities which cannot be
located on a graph (Co-ordinate axis) by a point
but are given by the area or so, on that graph.
• In that case, the area on the graph, pertaining to
the particular process, is a function of the path of
the process; such quantities are called Path
Functions. Examples: Heat, Work, etc.
• It can be represented by an inexact differential
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 Dimensions and Units
• Any physical quantity can be characterized by
dimensions.
• The arbitrary magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are
called units.
• In engineering thermodynamics, basically, there are four
dimensions. (primary dimension)
• Mass, Length, Time and Temperature
• The others are simply derived from primary units.

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• The seven fundamental of dimensions and their
units in SI
Dimension unit
Length Meter(m)
Mass kilogram(kg)
Time second(s)
Temperature Kelvin(k)
Electric Current ampere(A)
Amount of Light candela(c)
Amount of matter mole(mol)

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Dimensions and Units (contd.)

Derived force - F  ma newtons (N)


Dimensions  work - W  F x joule (J or N.m)

Prefix
103  kilo k 103  milli m
106  mega M 106  micro 
109  giga G 109  nano n
1012  tera T 1012  pico p

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Specific Volume, Pressure and
Temperature
 Specific Volume
• The volume occupied by a unit mass of a substance,
and it is designated by v.
Volume V 1
v  (m / kg ) 
3

mass m 
 Specific density /gravity
 The density of substance divided by the density

of water. 
s  ,  H 2O  1000kg / m3
 H 2O
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 Pressure
• Pressure is defined as a normal force exerted by a fluid
per unit area.
Force F N
P   2 Pascal  Pa
Area A m
 The actual pressure at a given point is called the absolute
pressure and it is measured relative to absolute
vacuumed.(absolute zero pressure)
 However, pressure are often measured relative to
atmospheric pressure, called gauge or vacuum pressure.
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Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface sea level by the
weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of earth.

(Pgage)

Atmospheric
pressure (Patm)
(Pvac)
(Pabs)
(Patm)
(Pabs)

Absolute vacuum
(zero)
Pvac= Patm - Pabs Pgage= Pabs - Patm
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 Patm
Manometer: used to measure gauge pressure
Points 1 and 2 at the same height
and connected by the same liquid
have the same pressure. i.e.
F1 F2 P
P1  P2 or 
A1 A2
weight of liquid above 2
P  P1  P2  Patm 
cross-sectional area
  volume  g   area  h  g
 Patm   Patm 
area area
  density of measuring liquid
P  Patm   hg
g  9.81m / s 2
Barometer: used to measure atmospheric pressure
PB  PC   hg but PC  0 (i.e. vaccum)
 PB   gh

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1.10 Pressure
Piston and Cylinder
At equilibrium
Fext = P.AP
If the system is heated the free moving
piston will move to adjust the inside
pressure so that Fext = P.AP

External forces Fext

1) Due to atmospheric pressure, P0AP
2) Due to mass of piston, mPg
F3)  P0 Ato
ext Due P 
am p g  k spring
spring, kx x mp g k
V F Pext  P0   V
x & Pext  ext AP 2
AP
Ap AP
PV diagram
Plot of pressure inside the cylinder against it’s volume
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 Temperature
• It is considered as a thermodynamic property that is the measure
of the energy content of a mass.
• When heat energy is transferred to a body, the body's energy
content increases and so does its temperature.
• Two bodies are in thermal equilibrium when they have reached
the same temperature.
• If two bodies are in thermal equilibrium with a third body, they
are also in thermal equilibrium with each other. This simple fact
is known as the zeroth law of thermodynamics.

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Temperature Scales: To relate temperatures that we read from different
devices we need a standard scale of temperature
In ME2308 we use the Celsius (oC) and Kelvin (K) scales.
Ice point (0 oC)
The temperature of a mixture of ice and water in equilibrium
at a pressure of 1 atmosphere.
Steam point (100 oC)
The temperature of water and steam which are in
equilibrium at a pressure of 1 atmosphere.
Triple point of water (0.01oC)
A single fixed point at a state in which the solid, liquid and
vapor phases of water all exist in equilibrium.
Absolute scale of temperature:
A temperature scale independent of any thermometric
substance

K o C  273.15 note that T  in K   T  in oC 

Tsegaye Seyoum (Msc) 43