Transcript
THERMODYNAMICS
Thermodynamics is the branch of physics that deals with the laws that govern the relationships between heat and work. Since heat is a form of energy and work is the mechanism by which energy is transferred, these laws are based on the basic principles that govern
the behavior of other types of energy such as conservation of energy.
In thermodynamics, the system is the collection of objects involved directly in the energy changes. The rest of the universe is considered to be the surroundings.
In an automobile engine the burning gasoline and resulting gasses would compose the system. The pistons, block, radiator, outside air, etc. would be the surroundings.
The system and its surroundings is normally separated by some type of wall. A wall that allows heat flow is called a diathermal wall. One that does not is said to be adiabatic.
The state of a system is described by specifying factors that affect the internal energy of the system. In the case of a gas this would be temperature, pressure, volume, and mass.
There are three laws of thermodynamics.
The first one is called the Zeroth Law because it was named after the first and second, but is a more basic law.
The Zeroth Law says that no heat transfer will occur between two bodies that are at the same temperature. This is the definition of thermal equilibrium.
In this case, since the temperatures are the same, there is no heat transfer.
The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the internal energy of a system changes from initial energy Ui to final energy Uf as a result of heat being transferred and work being done. The equation is:
?U = Uf - Ui = Q - W
where ?U is the change in internal energy, Uf is the final internal energy, Ui is the initial internal energy, Q is the heat energy gained or lost and W is the work done. When heat is added to the system, Q is positive. If heat is lost by the system, Q is negative. If work is done by the system, it is positive. If work is done on the system, it is negative.
The diagram shows how negative work(done on the system) causes ?U to be positive increasing the internal energy of the system. When work is positive, it removes energy so that ?U can be positive, negative, or zero.
Thermodynamic processes can occur at constant pressure. Then it is called an isobaric process.
If the process occurs at constant volume, it is called an isochoric process.
If it occurs at a constant temperature, it is called an isothermal process.
An adiabatic process is one that occurs without the transfer of heat. In this case, the change in internal energy of the system is equal to the work done.
If we graph the pressure on a gas on the Y axis and the volume of the gas on the X axis, work done by the gas or on the gas is represented by the area under the pressure-volume curve.
In this case we can find the work done by multiplying the average pressure by the change in volume. Another way to find the area would be to count the blocks in the shaded area and multiply that result by the work represented by one block.
If we estimate 8.9 squares, we multiply 8.9 by 2 X 105 pascals and by 1 X 10-4m3. This gives 180 joules.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that heat always flows from a substance at a higher temperature to a substance at a lower temperature. This principle requires heat engines to have both a high temperature source and a low temperature sink. Otherwise heat energy would not flow through them.
The efficiency of a heat engine is calculated by taking the amount of useful work done and dividing by the total energy input. This quotient is then multiplied by 100 to convert it to a per cent.
If a heat engine during an isothermal process does 100 joules of work and exhausts 200 joules to the heat sink, its efficiency is 33.3% since the total energy input was 300 joules.
Entropy is sometimes considered to be the measure of the disorder of a system. When energy of a system is organized so that there are regions of distinctly high energy and low energy we say the system has low entropy. If energy moves from a high energy region to a low energy region so that there is less difference, we say the entropy of the system has increased.
The entropy of the universe is always increasing. When energy is converted into a form that cannot be converted back or used, we say that the entropy of the universe has increased. If it can be converted back we say that the entropy of the universe has not changed.
