Solution to assignment 1 (2013)

The empirical equation for a temperature sensor is

0
0

=
X
X
c]
=
(PI)
(PI)

where X is the thermometric property of a sensor and the superscript
*
refers to the
thermometric property at a reference temperature, such as the triple point of water.
As shown in the given figure, the reading on the thermometric property of the sensor is X=(PV).
As the pressure P of gas in the sensor approaches 0 (gas collision losses tend to minimize to
zero) in measuring the product PV at the triple point of water, it is found that for the (PV) of
triple point for the various gases used in the sensor (eg. H
2
, 0
2,
N
2
, Air) approaches a constant
value of 22414 [cm
3
.atm per mol].
If we select a numerical number for the triple point of water to be

*
T
*
=273.16,(just as in Lord Kelvins experiment), and T,
the empirical equation of the temperature sensor becomes

I
I

=
(PI)
(PI)

(PI) =_ 22414x10
-6
[m3.atm / mol] 101325[
Po
otm
]]
0 [K]
273.16[K]

(2271.098)
I
273.16
[
[
mol
]
= 8.31416 I
PV =R
o
T
The constant is 8.31416 (J/mol.K or 8314.16J/kmol.K) is the universal gas constant (R
o
) as is
valid for assorted gases. Pa has the units of N/m
2
.
This demonstrates that the empirical equation is the ideal gas equation since the gas molecules
behaves thermodynamically (follows the laws of thermodynamics) where the temperature T is
the absolute temperature scale. The absolute temperature scale, T=PV / R
o,
is based on the
energy of the gas (but referenced to Kelvin temperature scale), eg., at triple point, (pv)
*
=
2271.098 J/mol, and at (pv) at boiling is 3102.545 J/mol. Obviously, at 0 K, the energy of gas is
zero.
What if one were to set the universal gas constant to unity? Then, the ideal gas equation
becomes
PV =[1]T
i.e., the absolute temperature scale is now the energy of the gas molecules, (PV) in J/mol or
J/kg. At absolute zero, all gas molecules would approach a absolute dead state where the
energy level is deemed as zero. If gas molecules are stationary, there is no pressure exerted on
the wall (P0).