Capítulo 2.

- La primera ley de la Termodinámica

Práctica N°01

TERMODINÁMICA TÉCNICA
PRÁCTICA N°01

1. A 400-L tank, A (see Fig.), contains argon gas at 250 kPa and 30°C. Cylinder B, having a
frictionless piston of such mass that a pressure of 150 kPa will float it, is initially empty. The
valve is opened, and argon flows into B and eventually reaches a uniform state of 150 kPa
and 30°C throughout. What is the work done by the argon?

2. A cylinder fitted with a frictionless piston contains 5 kg of superheated R-134a vapor at 1000
kPa and 140°C. The setup is cooled at constant pressure until the R-134a reaches a quality of
25%. Calculate the work done in the process.

3. A piston/cylinder assembly contains 1 kg of liquid water at 20°C and 300 kPa, as shown in
Fig. There is a linear spring mounted on the piston such that when the water is heated, the
pressure reaches 3 MPa with a volume of 0.1 m3.
a) Find the final temperature.
b) Plot the process in a P-V diagram.
c) Find the work in the process.

4. A piston/cylinder contains 0.1 kg of nitrogen at 100 kPa, 27°C, and it is now compressed in
a polytropic process with n = 1.25 to a pressure of 250 kPa. What is the work involved?

5. A cylinder containing 1 kg of ammonia has an externally loaded piston. Initially the ammonia
is at 2 MPa and 180°C. It is now cooled to saturated vapor at 40°C and then further cooled to
20°C, at which point the quality is 50%. Find the total work for the process, assuming a
piecewise linear variation of P versus V.

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 Capítulo 2.- La primera ley de la Termodinámica
Práctica N°01

6. The refrigerant R-410a is contained in a piston/cylinder, as shown in Fig., where the volume
is 11 L when the piston hits the stops. The initial state is −30°C, 150 kPa, with a volume of
10 L. This system is brought indoors and warms up to 15°C.
a) Is the piston at the stops in the final state?
b) Find the work done by the R-410a during this process.

7. Ten kilograms of water in a piston/cylinder arrangement exists as saturated liquid/vapor at

100 kPa, with a quality of 50%. It is now heated so that the volume triples. The mass of the
piston is such that a cylinder pressure of 200 kPa will float it (see Fig.).
a) Find the final temperature and volume of the water.
b) Find the work given out by the water.

8. A vertical cylinder (Fig.) has a 61.18-kg piston locked with a pin, trapping 10 L of R-410a at
10°C with 90% quality inside. Atmospheric pressure is 100 kPa, and the cylinder cross-
sectional area is 0.006 m2. The pin is removed, allowing the piston to move and come to rest
with a final temperature of 10°C for the R-410a. Find the final pressure, final volume, and
work done by the R-410a.

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 Capítulo 2.- La primera ley de la Termodinámica
Práctica N°01

9. A mass of 50 kg is placed on a 10 cm2 area weightless piston (cf. Figure). The ambient is a
vacuum, i.e., the pressure is zero in it. The initial gas pressure is 100 bar, and the initial
volume is 10 cm3. The cylinder height is 10 cm. A pin, constraining the piston in place is
suddenly released. Consider the gases in the piston–cylinder assembly to constitute a system
A. If the process in system A is internally reversible and isothermal, determine the work
output of the gas. Let system B be such that it includes the piston, weight, and ambient, but
excludes the gases. What is the velocity of the piston when its position is at the cylinder rim?
Assume system B to be adiabatic.

10. Consider the piston–cylinder assembly containing a pure gas shown below. The initial volume
of the gas is 0.05 m3, the initial pressure is 1 bar, and the cross-sectional area of the piston is
0.1 m2. Initially the spring exerts no force on the very thin piston.

a) A block of mass m = 2040 kg is then placed on the piston. The final volume is 0.03 m3,
and the final pressure is 2×105 Pa. You may assume that the force exerted by the spring
on the piston varies linearly with x and that the spring is very “tight,” so that the volume
of the gas is never less than the final volume. Precisely draw the process on a PV diagram,
labeling it “process A.” Draw the area that represents the work for this process. What is
the value of the work? [Hint: First find the value for the spring constant, k.]
b) Consider instead a process in which a block of mass 1020 kg is placed on the piston in
the original initial state, and after the gas inside has been compressed another block of
mass 1020 kg is placed on the piston. Draw the process on the same PV diagram, labeling
it “process B.” Draw the area that represents the work for this process. What is the value
of the work?
c) Describe the process in which it will take the least amount of work to compress the piston.
Draw the process on the same PV diagram, labeling it “process C.” Draw the area that
represents the work for this process. What is the value of the work?

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 Capítulo 2.- La primera ley de la Termodinámica
Práctica N°01

11. A 700 kg piston is initially held in place by a removable latch above a vertical cylinder. The
cylinder has an area of 0.1 m2; the volume of the gas within the cylinder initially is 0.1 m3 at
a pressure of 10 bar. The working fluid may be assumed to obey the ideal gas equation of
state. The cylinder has a total volume of 0.25 m3, and the top end is open to the surrounding
atmosphere at 1 bar.
a) Assume that the frictionless piston rises in the cylinder when the latches are removed and
the gas within the cylinder is always kept at the same temperature. This may seem like an
odd assumption, but it provides an approximate result that is relatively easy to obtain.
What will be the velocity of the piston as it leaves the cylinder?
b) What will be the maximum height to which the piston will rise?
c) What is the pressure behind the piston just before it leaves the cylinder?
d) Now suppose the cylinder was increased in length such that its new total volume is 0.588
m3. What is the new height reached by the piston?
e) What is the maximum height we could make the piston reach by making the cylinder
longer?

12. 700 kg piston is initially held in place by a removable latch inside a horizontal cylinder. The
totally frictionless cylinder (assume no viscous dissipation from the gas also) has an area of
0.1 m2; the volume of the gas on the left of the piston is initially 0.1 m3 at a pressure of 8 bars.
The pressure on the right of the piston is initially 1 bar, and the total volume is 0.25 m3. The
working fluid may be assumed to follow the ideal gas equation of state. What would be the
highest pressure reached on the right side of the piston and what would be the position of the
piston at that pressure? (a) Assume isothermal; (b) What is the kinetic energy of the piston
when the pressures are equal?

13. Five kilograms of CO2 gas is contained in a piston–cylinder assembly at a pressure of 7.5 bar
and a temperature of 300 K. The piston has a mass of 6000 kg and a surface area of 1 m2. The
friction of the piston on the walls is significant and cannot be ignored. The atmospheric
pressure is 1.01325 bar. The latch holding the piston in position is suddenly removed and the
gas is allowed to expand. The expansion is arrested when the volume is double the original
volume. Determine the work done in the surroundings.

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