InterconversionofTemperatureScales

Celsius
Theworld'smostcommontemperaturescaleisCelsius.AbbreviatedC,itisvirtuallythesameasthe
oldcentigradescaleandthereforehas100degreesbetweenthemeltingpointandboilingpointof
water,takentooccurat0and100degrees,respectively.
Kelvin
Temperatureisameasureofthethermalenergyofasystem.Thuscoolingcanproceedonlytothe
pointatwhichallofthethermalenergyisremovedfromthesystem,andthisprocessdefinesthe
temperatureofabsolutezero.TheKelvinscale,alsocalledtheabsolutetemeraturescale,takesitszero
tobeabsolutezero.Itusesunitsofkelvins(abbreviatedK),whicharethesamesizeasthedegreeson
theCelsiusscale.
Fahrenheit
Thisanachronistictemperaturescale,usedprimarilyintheUnitedStates,haszerodefinedasthe
lowesttemperaturethatcanbereachedwithiceandsalt,and100degreesasthehottestdaytime
temperatureobservedinItalybyTorricelli.

A. Intheequationofstatefortheperfectgas,
temperaturescalesmustbeused?

,whichofthefollowingthree

Celsius
Kelvin
Fahrenheit

B. WhatistheformulausedtoconvertatemperatureindegreesCelsius(
temperatureinkelvins(

)?

Express

intermsof

)tothesame

T_C+273
or
=
T_C+273.15

C. WhatistheformulausedtoconvertatemperatureindegreesFahrenheit(
temperatureindegreesCelsius(
Express

intermsof

)tothesame

)?

= Answernotdisplayed
D. Itispossibletogetagood"feel"fortheCelsiusscalebecausemultiplesof10havespecial
significance:
o
o

:verycoldweather;
:waterfreezes;

:acoolday,sowearajacketoutside;

:roomtemperature;

:ahotday,sodrinkextrawater;

:ahighfever.

ConvertthesesixtemperaturesintoFahrenheit.
EnterthetemperaturestothenearestFahrenheitdegree,orderingthemfromsmallestto
largest,separatedwithcommas.
Temperatures= 14 , 32 , 50 , 68 , 86 , 104 degreesFahrenheit
[Print]

Steamvs.HotWaterBurns
Justabouteveryoneatonetimeoranotherhasbeenburnedbyhotwaterorsteam.Thisproblem
comparestheheatinputtoyourskinfromsteamasopposedtohotwateratthesametemperature.
Assumethatwaterandsteam,initiallyat100 C,arecooleddowntoskintemperature,34 C,when
theycomeincontactwithyourskin.Wewillsimplyaskhowmuchheatistransferredtotheskinfrom
equalamounts(byweight)ofsteamandhotwater:
specificheatcapacity

each.Wewillfurtherassumeaconstant

forbothliquidwaterandsteam.

A. Undertheseconditions,whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?
Steamburnstheskinworsethanhotwaterbecausethethermalconductivityofsteam
ismuchhigherthanthatofliquidwater.
Steamburnstheskinworsethanhotwaterbecausethelatentheatofvaporizationis
releasedaswell.
Hotwaterburnstheskinworsethansteambecausethethermalconductivityofhot
waterismuchhigherthanthatofsteam.
Hotwaterandsteambothburnskinaboutequallybadly.

B.

Howmuchheat

istransferredtotheskinby25.0gofsteamontotheskin?Thelatent

heatofvaporizationforsteamis

Expresstheheattransferred,inkilojoules,tothreesignificantfigures.
= 63.3(+/0.1%) kJ

C.

Howmuchheat

istransferredby25.0gofwaterontotheskin?

Expresstheheattransferred,inkilojoules,tothreesignificantfigures.
= 6.91(+/0.1%) kJ
[Print]

HotRods

Twocircularrods,bothoflength andhavingthesamediameter,areplacedendtoendbetweenrigid
supportswithnoinitialstressintherods.
ThecoefficientoflinearexpansionandYoung'smodulusforrodAare
forrodBare

and

and

respectively.Bothrodsare"normal"materialswith

Thetemperatureoftherodsisnowraisedby

respectively;those
.

A. Aftertherodshavebeenheated,whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?
Choosethebestanswer.
Thelengthofeachrodisstill .
Thelengthofeachrodchangesbutthecombinedlengthoftherodsisstill

B.

Aftertherodshavebeenheated,whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?
Choosethebestanswer.
Thestressineachrodremainszero.
Acompressivestressarisesthatisthesameforbothrods.
Acompressivestressarisesthatisdifferentforthetworods.
Atensilestressarisesthatisthesameforbothrods.
Atensilestressarisesthatisdifferentforthetworods.
Acompressivestressarisesinonerodandatensilestressarisesintheotherrod.

C.

Whatisthestress

intherodsafterheating?

Expressthestressintermsof

,and

(alpha_A+alpha_B)*DeltaT/(1/Y_A+1/Y_B)
[Print]

ConductiveHeatLossfromaHouse

Inthisproblemyouwillestimatetheheatlostbyatypicalhouse,assumingthatthetemperatureinside
is

andthetemperatureoutsideis

housearesupportedby

.Thewallsanduppermostceilingofatypical

inchwoodenbeams

withfiberglassinsulation

inbetween.Thetruedepthofthebeamsisactually
thethicknessofthewallsandceilingtobe

inches,butwewilltake

toallowfortheinteriorandexterior

covering.Assumethatthehouseisacubeoflength
onaside.Assumethattheroofhas
veryhighconductivity,sothattheairintheatticisatthesametemperatureastheoutsideair.Ignore
heatlossthroughtheground.

A. Thefirststepistocalculate

,theeffectivethermalconductivityofthewall(orceiling),

allowingforthefactthatthe
centertocenter.
Express

beamsareactuallyonly

wideandarespaced16inches

numericallytotwosignificantfigures,inwattsperkelvinpermetersquared.

= 0.048(+/2%)
B. Whatis

,thetotalrateofenergylossduetoheatconductionforthishouse?

Roundyouranswertothenearest10W.
= 2160(+/0.4%) W
C. Letusassumethatthewinterconsistsof150daysinwhichtheoutsidetemperatureis0 C.
Thiswillgivethetypicalnumberof"heatingdegreedays"observedinawinteralongthe
northeasternUSseaboard.(Thecumulativenumberofheatingdegreedaysisgivendailyby
theNationalWeatherServiceandisusedbyoilcompaniestodeterminewhentheyshouldfill
thetanksoftheircustomers.)Giventhatagallon(3.4kg)ofoilliberates
whenburned,howmuchoilwillbeneededtosupplytheheatlostby
conductionfromthishouseoverawinter?Assumethattheheatingsystemis75%efficient.
Giveyouranswernumericallyingallonstotwosignificantfigures.
Gallonsconsumed= 270(+/3%) gallonsperwinter
[Print]

HeatRadiatedbyaPerson
Inthisproblemyouwillconsiderthebalanceofthermalenergyradiatedandabsorbedbyaperson.
Assumethatthepersoniswearingonlyaskimpybathingsuitofnegligiblearea.Asarough
approximation,theareaofahumanbodymaybeconsideredtobethatofthesidesofacylinderof
length

andcircumference

FortheStefanBoltzmannconstantuse

A. Ifthesurfacetemperatureoftheskinistakentobe

,howmuchthermalpower

doesthebodydescribedintheintroductionradiate?
Taketheemissivitytobe

Expressthepowerradiatedintotheroombythebodynumerically,roundedtothe
nearest10W.
= 460 W

B.
Thebasalmetabolismofahumanadultisthetotalrateofenergyproductionwhenapersonis
notperformingsignificantphysicalactivity.Ithasavaluearound125W,mostofwhichis
lostbyheatconductiontothesurroundingairandespeciallytotheexhaledairthatwas
warmedwhileinsidethelungs.Giventhisenergyproductionrate,itwouldseemimpossible
forahumanbodytoradiate460Wasyoucalculatedinthepreviouspart.
Whichofthefollowingalternativesseemstobestexplainthisconundrum?
Thehumanbodyisquitereflectiveintheinfraredpartofthespectrum(whereit
radiates)so isinfactlessthan0.1.
Thesurroundingroomisnearthetemperatureofthebodyandradiatesnearlythesame
powerintothebody.

C.

Nowcalculate

,thethermalpowerabsorbedbythepersonfromthethermalradiation

fieldintheroom,whichisassumedtobeat
.Ifyoudonotunderstandtherole
playedbytheemissivitiesofroomandperson,besuretoopenthehintonthattopic.
Expressthethermalpowernumerically,givingyouranswertothenearest10W.
= 400(+/2%) W

D. Find

,thenetpowerradiatedbythepersonwheninaroomwithtemperature
.

Expressthenetradiatedpowernumerically,tothenearest10W.
= 60 W
[Print]

EquipartitionTheoremandMicroscopicMotion
LearningGoal:TounderstandtheEquipartitionTheoremanditsimplicationsforthemechanical
motionofsmallobjects.
Instatisticalmechanics,heatistherandommotionofthemicroscopicworld.Theaveragekineticor
potentialenergyofeachdegreeoffreedomofthemicroscopicworldthereforedependsonthe
temperature.Ifheatisadded,moleculesincreasetheirtranslationalandrotationalspeeds,andthe
atomsconstitutingthemoleculesvibratewithlargeramplitudeabouttheirequilibriumpositions.Itisa
factofnaturethattheenergyofeachdegreeoffreedomisdeterminedsolelybythetemperature.The
EquipartitionTheoremstatesthisquantitatively:
Theaverageenergyassociatedwitheachdegreeoffreedominasystematabsolute
temperature is
constant.

,where

isBoltzmann's

Theaverageenergyoftheithdegreeoffreedomis
,wheretheanglebrackets
represent"average"or"mean"valuesoftheenclosedvariable.A"degreeoffreedom"correspondsto

anydynamicalvariablethatappearsquadraticallyintheenergy.Forinstance,

isthekinetic

energyofagasparticleofmass withvelocitycomponent alongthexaxis.

TheEquipartitionTheoremfollowsfromthefundamentalpostulateofstatisticalmechanicsthat
everyenergeticallyaccessiblequantumstateofasystemhasequalprobabilityofbeingpopulated,
whichinturnleadstotheBoltzmanndistributionforasysteminthermalequilibrium.Fromthe
standpointofanintroductoryphysicscourse,equipartitionisbestregardedasaprinciplethatis
justifiedbyobservation.
Inthisproblemwefirstinvestigatetheparticlemodelofanidealgas.Anidealgashasnointeractions
amongitsparticles,andsoitsinternalenergyisentirely"random"kineticenergy.Ifweconsiderthe
gasasasystem,itsinternalenergyisanalogoustotheenergystoredinaspring.Ifoneendofthegas
containerisfittedwithaslidingpiston,thepressureofthegasonthepistoncandousefulwork.Infact,
theempiricallydiscoveredperfectgaslaw,
,enablesustocalculatethispressure.This
ruleofnatureisremarkableinthatthevalueofthemassdoesnotaffecttheenergy(orthepressure)of
thegasparticles'motion,onlythetemperature.Itprovidesstrongevidenceforthevalidityofthe
EquipartitionTheoremasappliedtoaparticlegas:
or
foraparticleconstrainedbyaspringwhosespringconstantis .Ifamoleculehasmomentofinertia
aboutanaxisandisrotatingwithangularvelocity aboutthataxiswithassociatedrotationalkinetic
energy

,thatangularvelocityrepresentsanotherdegereeoffreedom.

A. Consideramonatomicgasofparticleseachwithmass

.Whatis

,theroot

meansquare(rms)ofthexcomponentofvelocityifthegasisanatanabsolutetemperature
?
Expressyouranswerintermsof ,
=

,andothergivenquantities.

sqrt(k_B*T/M)

B. Nowconsiderthesamesystemamonatomicgasofparticlesofmass
dimensions.Find

,thermsspeedifthegasisatanabsolutetemperature .

Expressyouranswerintermsof ,
=

exceptinthree

,andothergivenquantities.

sqrt(3*k_B*T/M)

C. Whatisthermsspeed ofmoleculesinairat

?Airiscomposedmostlyof
soyoumayassumethatithasmoleculesofaverageatomicmass

molecules,

.
Expressyouranswerinmeterspersecond,tothenearestinteger.
= 484(+/0.2%)
Nowconsiderarigiddumbbellwithtwomasses,eachofmass

A. Find

,spacedadistance apart.

,thermsangularspeedofthedumbbellaboutasingleaxis(takentobethex

axis),assumingthatitisinequilibriumattemperature .

Expressthermsangularspeedintermsof ,
=

, ,andothergivenquantities.

sqrt(2*k_B*T/(m*d^2))

B. Whatisthetypicalangularfrequency

foramoleculelike

)?Assumethat forthismoleculeis

atroomtemperature(

.Taketheatomicmassof

tobe

.
Express

numericallyinhertz,tothreesignificantfigures.

= 6.58*10^11(+/0.2%) Hz
[Print]

VelocityandEnergyScaling
Hydrogenmoleculeshaveamassof
asanatomicmassunit(
oxygenmolecules.

andoxygenmoleculeshaveamassof

,where isdefined

).Compareagasofhydrogenmoleculestoagasof

A. Atwhatgastemperature

wouldtheaveragetranslationalkineticenergyofahydrogen
moleculebeequaltothatofanoxygenmoleculeinagasoftemperature300K?
Expressthetemperaturenumericallyinkelvins.
= 300 K

B. Atwhatgastemperature

wouldtherootmeansquare(rms)speedofahydrogen
moleculebeequaltothatofanoxygenmoleculeinagasat300K?
Stateyouranswernumerically,inkelvins,tothenearestinteger.
= 19(+/1%) K
[Print]

TheIdealGasLawDerived
Theidealgaslaw,discoveredexperimentally,isanequationofstatethatrelatestheobservablestate
variablesofthegaspressure,temperature,anddensity(orquantitypervolume):
(or
where
that

),

isthenumberofatoms, isthenumberofmoles,and and

,where

areidealgasconstantssuch

isAvogadro'snumber.Inthisproblem,youshoulduseBoltzmann's

constantinsteadofthegasconstant .
Remarkably,thepressuredoesnotdependonthemassofthegasparticles.Whydon'theaviergas
particlesgeneratemorepressure?Thispuzzlewasexplainedbymakingakeyassumptionaboutthe

connectionbetweenthemicroscopicworldandthemacroscopictemperature .Thisassumptionis
calledtheEquipartitionTheorem.
TheEquipartitionTheoremstatesthattheaverageenergyassociatedwitheachdegreeoffreedomina
systematabsolutetemperature is
,where
isBoltzmann's
constant.Adegreeoffreedomisatermthatappearsquadraticallyintheenergy,forinstance
forthekineticenergyofagasparticleofmass withvelocity alongthexaxis.This
problemwillshowhowtheidealgaslawfollowsfromtheEquipartitionTheorem.
Toderivetheidealgaslaw,considerasinglegasparticleofmass
containerwithlength

thatismovingwithspeed

ina

alongthexdirection.

A. Findthemagnitudeoftheaverageforce
inthexdirectionthattheparticleexertsonthe
righthandwallofthecontainerasitbouncesbackandforth.Assumethatcollisionsbetween
thewallandparticleareelasticandthatthepositionofthecontainerisfixed.Becarefulofthe
signofyouranswer.
Expressthemagnitudeoftheaverageforceintermsof

,and

= m*v_x^2/L_x
B. Imaginethatthecontainerfromtheproblemintroductionisnowfilledwith identicalgas
particlesofmass .Theparticleseachhavedifferentxvelocities,buttheiraveragexvelocity
squared,denoted

,isconsistentwiththeEquipartitionTheorem.

Findthepressure ontherighthandwallofthecontainer.

Expressthepressureintermsoftheabsolutetemperature ,thevolumeofthe
container (where
), ,andanyothergivenquantities.Thelengthsofthe
sidesofthecontainershouldnotappearinyouranswer.

= (N/V)*k_B*T
C.

Whichofthefollowingstatementsaboutyourderivationoftheidealgaslawaretrue?
a.

TheEquipartitionTheoremimpliesthat

b.

owingtoinelasticcollisionsbetweenthegasmolecules.

c.

Withjustoneparticleinthecontainer,thepressureonthewall(at

d.

independentof and .
Withjustoneparticleinthecontainer,theaverageforceexertedontheparticleby
thewall(at

)isindependentof

and

)is

Entertfortrueorfforfalseforeachstatment,separatingyouranswerswithcommas.
t , f , f , t
D.

Ifyouheatafixedquantityofgas,whichofthefollowingstatementsaretrue?
a. Thevolumewillalwaysincrease.
b. Ifthepressureisheldconstant,thevolumewillincrease.
c. Theproductofvolumeandpressurewillincrease.
d. Thedensityofthegaswillincrease.
e. Thequantityofgaswillincrease.

Entertfortrueorfforfalseforeachstatment,separatingyouranswerswithcommas.
f , t , t , f , f
[Print]

ParticleGasReview
Aparticlegasconsistsof

monatomicparticleseachofmass

allcontainedinavolume at

temperature .YouranswersshouldbewrittenintermsoftheBoltzmannconstant
number

ratherthan

A. Find

andAvagadro's

,theaveragexvelocitysquaredforeachparticle.

Expresstheaveragexvelocitysquaredintermsofthegastemperature andanyother
givenquantities.
=

B. Find

k_B*T/m
,theaveragespeedsquaredforeachparticle.

Expresstheaveragespeedsquaredintermsofthegastemperature andanyother
givenquantities.

3*k_B*T/m

C. Find ,theinternalenergyofthegas.
Expresstheinternalenergyintermsofthegastemperature andanyothergiven
quantities.
= 3/2*N*k_B*T

D.

Find

,themolarheatcapacity(heatcapacitypermole)ofthegasatconstantvolume.

Expressthemolarheatcapacityintermsof
=

E.

and

(3/2)*N_A*k_B

Findthetotalheatcapacityofthegasatconstantvolume.
Expressthetotalheatcapacity
introduction.

intermsofquantitiesgivenintheproblem

= (3/2)*N*k_B

F. Find ,thepressureofthegas.
= N*k_B*T/V

G.

Expressthepressure ofthegasintermsofitsenergydensity

= (2/3)*(U/V)
Nowimaginethatthemassofeachgasparticleisincreasedbyafactorof3.Allotherinformation
givenintheproblemintroductionremainsthesame.

A. Whatwillbetheratioofthenewmolarmass
=

totheoldrmsspeed

B. Whatwillbetheratioofthenewrmsspeed
=

totheoldmolarmass

sqrt(1/3)

C. Whatwillbetheratioofthenewheatcapacity

totheoldheatcapacity

1
[Print]

Up,Up,andAway
Hotairballoonsfloatintheairbecauseofthedifferenceindensitybetweencoldandhotair.Consider
aballooninwhichthemassofthepilotbaskettogetherwiththemassoftheballoonfabricandother
equipmentis

.Thevolumeofthehotairinsidetheballoonis

andthevolumeofthebasket,

fabric,andotherequipmentis

.Theabsolutetemperatureofthecoldairoutsidetheballoonis

and

itsdensityis .Theabsolutetemperatureofthehotairinsidetheballoonis (where

).The
balloonisopenatthebottom,sothatthepressureinsideandoutsideoftheballoonisthesame.
Assumethatwecantreatairasanidealgas.Use forthemagnitudeoftheaccelerationduetogravity.
A. Whatisthedensity ofhotairinsidetheballoon?
Expressthedensityintermsof

,and

= rho_c*T_c/T_h

B. Whatisthetotalweight

oftheballoonplusthehotairinsideit?

Expressyouranswerintermsofquantitiesgivenintheproblemintroductionand/or
=

(m_b+rho_h*V_1)*g
or
(m_b+(rho_c*T_c/T_h)*V_1)*g

C. Whatisthemagnitudeofthebuoyantforce
Expressyouranswerintermsof ,

ontheballoon?
,and

= g*rho_c*(V_1+V_2)

D. Fortheballoontofloat,whatistheminimumtemperature
Expresstheminimumtemperatureintermsof
= T_c*(V_1/((V_1+V_2)m_b/rho_c))
[Print]

ofthehotairinsideit?
,

,and