First Assignment of MS2130 Engineering Thermodynamics; Chapter 1

To be submitted on 6 September 2017 at 12:00 at Thermodynamics Lab. of PAU (special for class B,
the submission will be at Fluid Machinery Lab.).

1. When analyzing the acceleration of gases as they flow through a nozzle, what would you
choose as your system? What type of system is this?
2. You are trying to understand how a reciprocating air compressor (a piston-cylinder device)
works. What system would you use? What type of system is this?
3. The temperature of ambient air in a certain location is measured to be 240 C. Express this
temperature in Fahrenheit (F), Kelvin (K), and Rankine (R) units.
4. The temperature of a system drops by 45F during a cooling process. Express this drop in
temperature in K, R, and C.
5. Consider two identical fans, one at sea level and the other on top of a high mountain,
running at identical speeds. How would you compare (a) the volume flow rates and (b) the
mass flow rates of these two fans?
6. Vacuum gage connected to a chamber reads 35 kPa at a location where the atmospheric
pressure is 92 kPa. Determine the absolute pressure in the chamber.
7. The absolute pressure in water at a depth of 9 m is read to be 185 kPa. Determine (a) the
local atmospheric pressure, and (b) the absolute pressure at a depth of 5 m in a liquid whose
specific gravity is 0.85 at the same location.
8. The basic barometer can be used to measure the height of a building. If the barometric
readings at the top and at the bottom of a building are 675 and 695 mmHg, respectively,
determine the height of the building. Take the densities of air and mercury to be 1.18 kg/m 3
and 13,600 kg/m3, respectively.
9. A system consists of liquid water in equilibrium with a gaseous mixture of air and water
vapor. How many phases are present? Does the system consist of a pure substance? Explain.
Repeat for a system consisting of ice and liquid water in equilibrium with a gaseous mixture
of air and water vapor.
10. When an object of mass 5 kg is suspended from a spring, the spring is observed to stretch by
8 cm. The deflection of the spring is related linearly to the weight of the suspended mass.
What is the proportionality constant, in newton per cm, if g = 9.81 m/s 2?
11. A gas initially at p1 = 1 bar and occupying a volume of 1 liter is compressed within a piston
cylinder assembly to a final pressure p2 = 4 bar.
a. If the relationship between pressure and volume during the compression is pV =
constant, determine the volume, in liters, at a pressure of 3 bar. Also plot the overall
process on a graph of pressure versus volume.
b. Repeat for a linear pressurevolume relationship between the same end states.
12. A vacuum gage indicates that the pressure of air in a closed chamber is 0.2 bar (vacuum). The
pressure of the surrounding atmosphere is equivalent to a 750-mm column of mercury. The
density of mercury is 13.59 g/cm 3, and the acceleration of gravity is 9.81 m/s 2. Determine the
absolute pressure within the chamber, in bar.
13. A closed system consists of 0.5 kmol of liquid water and occupies a volume of 4x10 -3 m3.
Determine the weight of the system, in N, and the average density, in kg/m3, at a location
where the acceleration of gravity is g = 9.81 m/s 2.
14. Estimate the magnitude of the force, in N, exerted by a seat belt on a 25 kg child during a
frontal collision that decelerates a car from 8 km/h to rest in 0.1 s. Express the cars
deceleration in multiples of the standard acceleration of gravity, or gs