IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGIES AND CONCEPTS IN THERMODYNAMICS (Part 1)

 The term “thermodynamics” comes from Greek words “therme” and “dynamis” which means heat
power.
 The term “thermodynamics” was first used in 1849 in the publication of William Rankine.
 First law of thermodynamics asserts that energy is a thermodynamic property.
 Second law of thermodynamics asserts that energy has quality as well as quantity.
 The macroscopic approach to the study of thermodynamics that does not require a knowledge of the
behavior of individual particles is called Classical thermodynamics.
 Statistical thermodynamics is more elaborate approach to the study of thermodynamics and based
on the average behavior of large groups of individual particles?
 System is defined a region in space chosen for study.
 The first law of thermodynamics is based on conservation of energy.
 Surroundings is the mass or region outside the system.
 Boundary is the real or imaginary surface that separates the system from its surroundings.
 A system which consists of fixed amount of mass and no mass can cross its boundary is called closed
system.
 A system in which even energy is not allowed to cross the boundary called isolated system.
 A system in which there is a flow of mass is known as open system.
 Open system usually encloses compressor, turbine, and nozzle.
 The boundary of a control volume, which may either real or imaginary is called control surface.
 Any characteristics of a thermodynamics system is called a property.
 Thermodynamic properties are classified as intensive and extensive.
 The thermodynamic properties that are independent on the size of the system is called intensive
property.
 The thermodynamic properties that are dependent on the size or extent of the system is called
extensive property.
 Extensive properties per unit mass are called specific properties.
 A system is in thermal equilibrium if the temperature is the same throughout the entire system.
 A system is in mechanical equilibrium if there is no change in pressure at any point of the system
with time.
 If a system involves two phases, it is in phase equilibrium when the mass of each phase reaches an
equilibrium level and stays there.
 A system is in chemical equilibrium of its chemical composition does not change with time, i.e., no
chemical reaction occurs.
 “The state of a simple compressible system is completely specified by two independent, intensive
properties properties”. This is known as state postulate.
 Without electrical, mechanical, gravitational surface tension and motion effects, a system is called
simple compressible system.
 Process refers to any change that a system undergoes from one equilibrium state to another
equilibrium state.
 Path refers to the series of states through which a system passes during a process.
 There are two independent properties required to completely fix the equilibrium state of a pure
gaseous compound.
 Quasi-state process is a process in which the system remains infinitesimally closed to an equilibrium
state at all times
 A closed system may refer to control mass.
 An open system may refer to control volume.
 Cycle is a process with identical end states.
 Steady-flow process is defined as a process during which a fluid flows through a control volume
steadily.
 The sum of all the microscopic form of energy is called internal energy.
 Thomas Young coined the word “energy” in 1807.
 The molecules of a gas moving through space with some velocity possess translational energy.
 The electrons in an atom which rotate about the nucleus possess what rotational kinetic energy.
 The electrons which spin about its axis will possess spin energy.
 Sensible energy refers to the portion of the internal energy of a system associated with the kinetic
energies of the molecules.
 Latent energy is the internal energy associated with the phase of a system.
 Chemical energy is the internal energy associated with atomic bonds in a molecule.
 Nuclear energy is the extremely large amount of energy associated with the strong bonds within the
nucleus of the atom itself.
 Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics states that if two bodies are in thermal equilibrium with a third body,
they are also in thermal equilibrium with each other.
 R. H. Fowler formulated the zeroth law of thermodynamics in 1931.
 Kelvin scale is the thermodynamic temperature scale in the SI system.
 Rankine scale is the thermodynamic temperature scale in the English system.
 Ideal gas temperature scale is identical to the Kelvin scale.
 The temperature of the ideal gas temperature scale are measured by using a constant-volume gas
thermometer.
 Thermoelectric has the widest range thermometer.
 Temperature range of mercury thermometer is 38° C to 350° C.
 Pyrometer is type of thermometer is used principally at temperature above the first visible “red heat”.
 500° C is the approximate temperature of the first visible “red heat”.
 Coulomb repulsion refers to the strong repulsion between the positively charged nuclei which makes
fusion reaction difficult to attain.
 All three phases of water coexist in equilibrium in triple point of water.
 The pressure of water at tripoint is 0.00592 atm.
 Manometer, Aneroid, Bourdon tube are used to measure pressure.
 Bourdon pressure gage consists of a coiled hollow tube that tends to straighten out when the tube is
subjected to an internal pressure.
 Heat is an energy that can be transferred from one object to another causing a change in temperature
of each object.
 The thermodynamic variable that is a function of enthalpy and entropy of the system is the Gibb’s
free energy.
 Helmholtz free energy is defined as the internal energy of a system, less that product of its entropy
and temperature.
 Gibb’s Theorem states that “the total property of a mixture of ideal gases is the sum of the properties
that the individual gases would have if each occupied the same temperature.”
 Heat capacity refers to the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of an object by one
degree Celsius or 1 K.
 Molar heat is heat capacity of one mole of a substance.