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Thermoprob 3

1. This document contains instructions and problems related to thermodynamics. It is a problem set from BITS Pilani for the course BITS F111: Thermodynamics. 2. The problems cover various thermodynamics topics including scale height of atmospheres, Dalton's law of partial pressures, virial expansion, compressibility and expansivity, Poisson distribution in gases, and calculations of work. 3. Students are instructed to consult the instructor if they need any clarifications on the problems. The problem set contains 6 problems ranging from calculations of scale heights to determining equations of state to computing work in various thermodynamic processes.

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299 views2 pages

Thermoprob 3

1. This document contains instructions and problems related to thermodynamics. It is a problem set from BITS Pilani for the course BITS F111: Thermodynamics. 2. The problems cover various thermodynamics topics including scale height of atmospheres, Dalton's law of partial pressures, virial expansion, compressibility and expansivity, Poisson distribution in gases, and calculations of work. 3. Students are instructed to consult the instructor if they need any clarifications on the problems. The problem set contains 6 problems ranging from calculations of scale heights to determining equations of state to computing work in various thermodynamic processes.

Uploaded by

jadgug
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, PILANI

SECOND SEMESTER 2014-15


BITS F111: Thermodynamics
Problem set 3
Problem Solving Session (1/02/2015)
Instructions
1. Consult the Instructor in case you need any clarifications.

Scale height

In the atmospheric pressure law


mgh
k
T

n = n0 e

kB T /mg = RT /M g = h0 is called the scale height ( M is the molecular weight). Evaluate the scale height
for Earths atmosphere and Suns atmosphere, given ME = 29, TE = 300K, MS = 1.5 and TS = 5500K.

Daltons law of partial pressures

A volume V at temperature T contains nA and nB moles of ideal gases A and B respectively. The gases do
not react chemically. Show that the total pressure is given by
P = PA + PB
where PA and PB are the pressures that each gas would exert if it were in the volume alone.
In diatomic gases some molecules are dissociated into separated atoms, the fraction dissociated increasing with
temperature. On the whole at a given temperature the gas consistes of a monoatomic and diatomic portion.
The mixture does not behave like an ideal gas though each component separately does. If m be the total mass
of the gas and m1 be the mass of the monoatomic portion, the degree of dissociation is defined as = m1 /m.
What is the equation of state of the gas. The molecular weight of the diatomic component may be taken as
M2 .

Virial expansion

The following expansion is called Virial expansion


P v = RT (1 + BP + CP 2 + )
Determine the second Virial coeffecient B in each of the following cases
1.

a
P + 2 (v b) = RT
v
2.


P ea/RT v (v b) = RT
3.


a 
P+ 2
(v b) = RT
v T

Compressibility and expansivity

1. A hypothetical substance has isothermal compressibility = a/v and expansivity = 2bT /v, where a and
b are constants. At a pressure of P0 and temperature of T0 the specific volume is v0 . Find the equation of
state.
2. A substance has an isothermal compressibility = aT 3 /P 2 and expansivity = bT 2 /P , where a and b
are constants. Find the equation of state.
3. Using the fact that dv is an exact differential show that





=
P T
T P
4. The equilibrium states of superheated steam is represented by Callendars equation

rT
a
m
P
T
where b, r, a and m are constants. Calculate the volume expansivity as a function of T and P .
vb=

5. Consider a wire with cross section area A that undergoes linear expansion from an initial equilibrium to a
final equilibrium state. Show that the change in the tension is
dF = AY dT +

AY
dL
L

where is coeffecient of linear expasion and Y is the Youngs modulus. For an equation of state of the form
L
L0 2
F
=
2
KT
L0
L
find the isothermal Youngs modulus.

Poisson Distribution in Molecules of a gas. Continued from


the first problem set

The Stirling approximation used in the problem on the distribution for fluctuations for large N is given
by
ln(N !) N ln(N ) N
which maybe written as
N ! (N/e)N
Upto the leading order we have a logarithmic correction
ln(N !) N lnN N + O(ln N )
The O(ln N ) term was earlier ignored as it clearly is much
smaller than the dominant contribution from the
p
first two terms. This correction is actually given by ln (2N ) which yields the following
N!


2N

N
e

N

Let us now do a more general problem. Calculate the probability of having n particles in a small volume V of
a bigger box with total volume V and a total number of particles N0 . For = 2 we should get the earlier
result. Show that the probability maybe written in the form
Pn =

an ea
n!

Identify a in this case. This is infact a well known probability distribution called the Poisson distribution.
Show that you may get the Gaussian approximation from this and reproduce the earlier result for = 2.

Work

1. Consider a quasistatic adiabatic expansion of a gas contained in a vessel when the pressure at any moment
is given by
P V = K,
where K and are constants. Calculate the work done when the expansion takes place from an initial state
(Pi , Vi ) and the final state is (Pf , Vf ).
2. Calculate the work done upon expansion of 1 mole of a Van der Waal gas isothermally from volume vi to
vf .
3. The tension in a wire is increased quasi statically and isothermally from Fi to Ff . The length L area A
and isothermal Youngs modulus remains practically constant. Calculate the work done.
4. For the equation of state given in problem 4.5, calculate the isothermal work done in compressing the
length from L = L0 to L = L0 /2.
5. Consider a substance where the internal energy function is given by
U = 2.5P V + constant
Find the equation of adiabats in the P V plane. What would be the equation of the adiabats if the energy
function was instead given by
U = aP 2 V

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