ME2121/ME2121E Tutorial #1 (August 2016)

Aims of Tutorial #1: The objective of tutorial is to give the student an understanding of simple gas
law (Equation of state), temperature measurement (sensors) and their errors or uncertainty, the basic
processes (constant pressure, constant temperature,etc.) in thermodynamic systems and the
temperature scales (determination of the numbers in a scale).

Q1.. The behaviour of an ideal gas in a thermodynamic system can be expressed by three variables in
an explicit form:

(an experimental evidence)

where R is a gas constant; P, T and v are the pressure, temperature in (K) and specific volume of the
gas, respectively. Using simple mathematics, show that:
(i) the variable, P, is a property of the thermodynamic system,
(ii) the remaining variables, T and v, as specified in the given relation, are independent of each other
(Hint: Read up the requirements of exact differentials and the test for independency of an exact
function.)

Q2. A mass of gas is trapped in a cylinder fitted with a leak-proof piston. The initial temperature and
pressure of the gas are 30C and 3 bar. The pressure of the gas in the cylinder is then reduced to 2.5
bar and its temperature is increased to 60C.
Describe qualitatively, how you would conduct the above-mentioned process in a quasi-static manner.
You may make suitable assumption(s) about the boundary and the surroundings. Would friction
between the wall and piston affect your answer?
(No exact answer for this question. You should read up on the basic definitions and the concept of
heat and work interactions for a simple system).

Q3. Write down the thermometric property of a mercury-in-glass thermometer. The length of a
mercury column in a mercury-in-glass thermometer is 5 cm when it is in contact with water at triple
point. Calculate (a) the empirical temperature when the mercury length is at 6 cm; (b) the length of
mercury column when it is at steam point; (c) If X is measured with a precision of 0.1 mm, can this
thermometer be used to distinguish ice point and the triple point?
Note: From mathematics, the error uncertainty e of a variable function (f) is given by
=

= (
)

=1

and exi refers to the experimental resolution involved when taking a reading.
You may wish to read a paper by RJ Moffat for details, Describing the Uncertainties in Experimental
Results, Robert J. Moffat, Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 1988; 1:3-17, 1988 by Elsevier
Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017).
[Ans: Part (a): 327.79 K, 6.83 cm, error uncertainty is 0.77 K.]

Q4. Write down the thermometric property of a constant-volume gas thermometer. The best
experimental value of vapour pressures between the ratio of the boiling to the ice point of water is
found to be:

= 1.3661

where the subscripts s and i refer to the steam and ice points, respectively.
If an engineer decides to have an absolute temperature scale that divides equally in 50 divisions
between the boiling and ice points of water, show from first principles that the numerical numbers for
such an absolute temperature scale (called the S Scale for convenience) at these states of water are
137.57 S and 186.57 S, respectively.
(Hint: Two requirements for establishing a temperature scale are needed. check the lecture notes).