PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS IN

THERMAL PHYSICS
[For B.Sc. (Pass Course) and B.S. (Honours)]

Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed

Professor and Dean, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Balochistan, Quetta.

According to Latest Syllabus Prescribed by all the Universities of Pakistan

ALLIED BOOK CENTRE

KABEER STREET # 2, URDU BAZAR, LAHORE Phone (042) 37241238, 37325451

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Preface
The numerical problem solving has become an integral part of all undergraduate Physics Courses. This book has been designed to meet the requirement of B.Sc. (Pass) and B.S. (Honours) students of Pakistani Universities according to the latest prescribed syllabus. A careful study of these solved numerical problems will help in better understanding of the relevant physical principles. The problems have been selected from recent examination papers of various universities and cover a wide spectrum of topics in Thermal Physics. One can not claim much originality in such type of book. A large number of books have been consulted during the preparation of this work. I am very grateful to authors and publishers of these books. This book can serve as a companion to any standard text book on Thermal Physics. I have made my best efforts to make this work free from errors but there will be still some errors which might have escaped from my attention. The readers are requested to point out any conceptual and typographical errors so that the same can be eliminated in next edition. The suggestions for further improvement of the book will be greatly appreciated and incorporated in the next edition with due acknowledgement.

November, 2010.

Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed

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List of Abbreviations
A S B.U. K.U. P.U. B.Sc. F.P.S.C. B.P.S.C. Annual Examination Supplementary Examination University of Balochistan, Quetta. University of Karachi, Karachi. University of the Punjab. Lahore. Bachelor of Science Federal Public Service Commission Balochistan Public Service Commission

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Temperature and Heat

1-1 Temperature Scales 1-2 Linear Expansion 1-3 Superficial or Surface Expansion 1-4 Cubical or Volumetric Expansion 1-5 Specific heat 1-6 Thermal Conduction

Page No.
01 05 08 09 13 17

2. Thermal Properties of Matter

2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 2-5 Boyles Law Charless Law Gay-Lussacs Law The Ideal Gas Law The Internal Energy of an Ideal Gas 2-6 The Kinetic Theory of Gases 2-7 The Mean Free Path Additional Problems 19 21 22 24 37 43 53 58

3. The First Law of Thermodynamics

3-1 3-2 3-3 The First Law of Thermodynamics Heat Capacities of an Ideal Gas Work Done on or by an Ideal Gas (a) Work Done at Constant Volume (b) Work Done at Constant Pressure (c) Work done at Constant Temperature (d) Work Done at Thermal Isolation or Adiabatic Conditions Additional Problems v 59 62 66 67 69 71 81

4. The Second Law of Thermodynamics

4-1 4-2 Efficiency of a Heat Engine Coefficient of Performance of a Refrigerator Engine Additional Problems 82 95 98

5. Entropy
5-1 Introduction 5-2 Entropy Change for an Ideal Gas (a) Isothermal Process (b) Isobaric Process (c) Isochoric Process 5-3 Miscellaneous Additional Problems 100 108 110 112 113 117

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