Physics 73.1 Mid Year A.Y.

2017 - 2018

Name: Experiment Date:

Date Submitted:
Section: Score:
Instructor:

Prelab: Heat Capacity Ratio

Read the manual then answer the following:

1. What is the heat capacity ratio for ideal diatomic gases?

2. How do you characterize an adiabatic process in terms of the heat capacity ratio?

3. How is the heat capacity ratio calculated from experimental data?

Prelab: Heat Capacity Ratio P1

 EXPERIMENT
Heat Capacity Ratio

Objectives

At the end of the activity, the student should be able to:

• determine the heat capacity ratio of air using Rüchardt’s method.

• compare the heat capacity ratio obtained experimentally with the heat capacity
ratio of diatomic gas particles.

• show that the surrounding air is made up of mostly diatomic particles.

Introduction

The heat capacity ratio γ is defined as

Cp
γ= , (1)
Cv
where Cp and Cv are the heat capacities of a gas at constant pressure and constant vol-
ume, respectively. For an ideal diatomic gas, Cp = 7N k/2 and Cv = 5N k/2, where N is
the number of gas molecules and k = 1.3806488×10−23 m2 ·kg·s−2 ·K−1 is the Boltzmann
constant. The surrounding air is mainly made up of diatomic gases; hence, theoretically,
its heat capacity ratio is γ = 1.4. In this experiment, an experimental value of the heat
cpacity of air will be determined .

Rüchardt’s method

In 1929, Eduard Rüchardt, a German physicist, developed a method to determine the

heat capacity ratio of gas. In this method, the gas is kept in a container that has a piston
on top as shown in Figure 1. The piston is given a small vertical displacement, making it
oscillate about its original position with a period that is dependent on the heat capacity
ratio.

Theory

Using Newton’s second law, the height of the piston from the ground at any time t is
described by

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Physics 73.1 Mid Year A.Y. 2017 - 2018

Figure 1: Setup of Rüchardt’s method (left) and a free body diagram of the piston (right).

d2 y(t)
m = P A − Patm A − mg, (2)
dt2
where m is the mass of the piston, P is the gas pressure, A is the cross-sectional area
of the piston, g = 9.81 m/s2 is the acceleration due to gravity, and Patm = 101325 Pa
is the atmospheric pressure. Approximately no heat is transferred into or out of the gas
when it is given quick and small changes in its volume. This is an adiabatic process and
is characterized by

P V γ = constant = P0 V0γ , (3)

where P0 = Patm + mg/A is the initial pressure on the gas and V0 is the volume of the
gas at the middle of oscillation. Thus, the equation of motion simplifies to

d2 y(t) P0 V0γ
m = A − Patm A − mg, (4)
dt2 Vγ
where V is the volume of the gas at pressure P . For a small vertical displacement δy,

V = A(y0 + δy). (5)

Using equation (5), the first term in the right hand side of equation (4) can be expanded
to

P0 V0γ P0 (Ay0 )γ δy
= ≈ P 0 − γP 0 . (6)
Vγ [A(y0 + δy)]γ y0
In the above expansion, the formula (1 + x)−1 ≈ 1 − x for |x|  1 is used. The equation
of motion of the piston now becomes

d2 (δy(t))
= −ω 2 δy, (7)
dt2
with the angular frequency
s
P0 A
ω= γ . (8)
my0
Equation (7) shows a differential equation for a translated simple harmonic motion. This
equation has the solution of the form

Heat Capacity Ratio 2

Physics 73.1 Mid Year A.Y. 2017 - 2018

y(t) = y0 − a cos(ωt), (9)

where a is the initial displacement or amplitude.

Figure 2: Underdamped oscillation of the pressure exerted by the gas.

Friction causes damped motion of the piston in contact with the cylindrical glass.
Underdamped oscillation, shown in Figure 2, will be exhibited due to the pressure exerted
by the gas. Newton’s second law is now written as

d2 y dy dy
m 2
= P A − Patm A − mg − b = −ω 2 y − b , (10)
dt dt dt
where b is the damping parameter. The solution for relatively small damping is
!
bt
y(t) = y0 + a exp − cos(ω 0 t), (11)
2m
where
s
0 b2
ω = ω2 − , (12)
4m2
and ω is the angular frequency of undamped oscillation shown in equation (8). In terms
of the period of damped oscillation T = 2π/ω 0 yields

1 γ(Patm A + mg) b2
= − (13)
T2 4π 2 my0 16π 2 m2
where T is determined by the time interval between two successive peaks. Based on
equation (13), the graph of T −2 vs (y0 )−1 is linear, from which follows the heat capacity
ratio derived from the slope of the best-fit equation.

Materials

The following materials are required for the experiment:

• PASCO Heat Engine Apparatus
• Vernier LabQuest with Gas Pressure Sensor

Heat Capacity Ratio 3

Physics 73.1 Mid Year A.Y. 2017 - 2018

Procedure

Setup
1. Connect the Gas Pressure Sensor to the Vernier LabQuest. (Caution: Do not use
excessive force when connecting the rubber tubing to the gas pressure sensor. Any
excessive force can cause air leakage.)

2. In the Sensors menu of LabQuest, tap Data Collection then choose the duration to
be 5 s with a sampling rate of 500 samples/s.

3. Connect the gas pressure sensor to the heat engine apparatus using the rubber
tubing.

4. Fill in Table W1 with the specifications of the heat engine apparatus.

Measurement
1. Set the initial height of the piston to y0 . Ensure that there is no air leakage by
closing the unused port.

2. Start collecting data in LabQuest then lightly tap the platform to provide a small
initial downward displacement. You should observe a damped oscillation in the
pressure vs time graph.

3. Isolate the oscillating part of the graph by zooming-in the area. Determine the
period of oscillation of the damped oscillation by measuring the time interval for
each peak. You may average the period of several peaks to have a more precise
measurement.

4. Repeat the measurements for all prescribed y0 in Table W2. Record all measure-
ments in this table. Sketch the pressure vs time graph in Figure W1.

5. Do two more trials. Record all measurements in Table W2. Compute the average
period hTexpt i and record in Table W2.

Calculation and analysis

1. Compute hTexpt i−2 and y0−1 . Complete Table W3.

2. Plot hTexpt i−2 against y0−1 in Figure W2. Add a linear fit to this plot.

3. From the equation of the best-fit line, calculate the heat capacity ratio. Complete
Table W4.

4. Answer the questions.

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Physics 73.1 Mid Year A.Y. 2017 - 2018

Group Members: Date Performed:

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Data Sheet

A. Experimental Data

Table W1. Experimental set-up specifications

Diameter of piston (m)
Mass of the platform and piston (kg)

Figure W1. Sketch of the pressure vs time graph

Table W2. Measured Data

piston height Period T (s)
y◦ (m) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 < Texpt >
0.075
0.080
0.085
0.090
0.095

Worksheet: Heat Capacity Ratio W1

Physics 73.1 Mid Year A.Y. 2017 - 2018

B. Calculation of Heat Capacity Ratio

Table W3. Calculation of < T >−2 and < y◦ >−1

< Texpt >−2 < y◦ >−1

Figure W2. Plot of < T >−2 and < y◦ >−1

Table W4. Calculation of heat capacity ratio

Slope of < T >−2 vs < y◦ >−1 plot
y-intercept of < T >−2 vs < y◦ >−1 plot
experimental heat capacity ratio
theoretical heat capacity ratio
relative (%) deviation

Worksheet: Heat Capacity Ratio W2

Physics 73.1 Mid Year A.Y. 2017 - 2018

Questions

1. In the experiment, we only considered large piston heights (at least

0.075 m). If we had considered lower piston heights, would the devi-
ation increase or decrease? Explain why.

2. What is the damping parameter for the piston oscillation? Calculate

this from your experimental data and express in SI units.

3. Discuss possible sources of deviation in your calculation.

Worksheet: Heat Capacity Ratio W3