The First Law of Thermodynamics

(Conservation of Energy)

"Energy can neither be created nor

destroyed, but only transferred from one
system to another and transformed from
one form to another."

or

"The internal energy of an isolated

system is constant (even though that
energy may be transformed from one
type to another)."

For thermodynamic systems, the 1st

Law is:
DU = Q - W

Figure 1 : Conservation of Energy 1

Physics that deals with the mechanical
action or relations between heat and work

Example 1: Heat to work.

Heat Q from flame provides energy

to do work

Figure 3 : Example 1

Example 2: Work to heat.

Work done by person is

converted to heat energy via
friction.

Figure 4: Example 2 2
Example 1-1

An object at sea level has a mass of 400 kg.

a) Find the weight of this object on earth.
b) Find the weight of this object on the moon where the local gravitational
acceleration is one-sixth that of earth.

(a)

Wt mg
m 1N
Wt (400kg)9.807 2
s kg m
2
s
3922.8N
Note the use of the conversion factor to convert mass-acceleration units into force
units.

3
(b)
Wt mg
9.807 m 1N
(400kg)
6 s 2 kg m
s2
653.8 N
Example 1-2

An object has a mass of 180 lbm. Find the weight of this object at a location where
the local gravitational acceleration is 30 ft/s2.

Wt mg
ft 1 lbf
(180 lbm)(30 2
)( )
s 32.2 lbm ft
s2
167.7 lbf
4
Example 1-3

A vacuum gage connected to a tank reads 30 kPa at a location where the

atmospheric pressure is 98 kPa. What is the absolute pressure in the tank?

Pabs Patm Pgage

where the +Pgage is used when Pabs > Patm and Pgage is used for a
vacuum gage.

Pabs Patm Pgage

98 kPa 30 kPa
68 kPa

5
Example 1-4

A pressure gage connected to a valve stem of a truck tire reads 240 kPa at a location
where the atmospheric pressure is 100 kPa. What is the absolute pressure in the
tire, in kPa and in psia?
Pabs Patm Pgage
100 kPa 240 kPa
340 kPa
The pressure in psia is

14.7 psia
Pabs 340 kPa 49.3 psia
1013
. kPa
What is the gage pressure of the air in the tire, in psig?

Pgage Pabs Patm

49.3 psia 14.7 psia
34.6 psig
6
Example 1-5

Both a gage and a manometer are attached to a gas tank to measure its pressure. If
the pressure gage reads 80 kPa, determine the distance between the two fluid levels
of the manometer if the fluid is mercury, whose density is 13,600 kg/m3.

P
h
g
103 N / m2
80 kPa kPa
h
kg m 1N
13600 3 9.807 2
m s kg m / s2
0.6 m

7
Example 1-6

Water boils at 212 F at one atmosphere pressure. At what temperature does water
boil in C.
5 5 C
T = (T F 32) (212 32) F 100 C
9 9 F
Like pressure, the temperature used in thermodynamic calculations must be in
absolute units. The absolute scale in the SI system is the Kelvin scale, which is
related to the Celsius scale by

T K = T C + 273.15
In the English system, the absolute temperature scale is the Rankine scale, which is
related to the Fahrenheit scale by

T R = T F+ 459.67
Also, note that
T R = 1.8 T K

8
Units System

Unit
A unit is any specified amount of a quantity by comparison to which any
other quantity of the same kind is measured
e.g. meters, centimeters, and kilometers units of length
e.g. seconds, minutes and hours time units

Types of units system

SI units ( International System of Units)
- meter, Newton, second
GCS
- meter, kilogram, second
English System
- feet, pound, second

Example 1-7: Conversion of English System to SI units

?
The mass of boxes of 2lb is equivalent to ______ kg.

9
A few basic units of Thermodynamics
Pressure Measurement
Example 1-8
A manometer is used to measure the pressure in a tank. The fluid used has
a specific gravity of 0.85, and the manometer column height is 55 cm. If the
local atmosphere pressure is 96 kPa, determine the absolute pressure
within the tank.

Solution
Assume gravitational acceleration, g = 9.807 m/s
The density of fluid, = specific gravity x water density
= 0.85 x 1000 kg/m3
= 850 kg/m3

p = patm + gh
= 96 kPa + (850 kg/m3)(9.807 m/s)(0.55 m) x (1 kPa/1000 N/m)
= 100.584 kPa
= 100.6 kPa

10
A few basic units of Thermodynamics

Pressure Measurement

Example 1-9
Determine the atmospheric pressure at a location where the barometric
reading is 740 mmHg and the gravitational acceleration is g = 9.7 m/s.
Assume the temperature of mercury to be 10C at which its density is 13570
kg/m3.

Solution

The atmospheric pressure is determined to be

patm = gh
= 13570 kg/m3 x 9.7 m/s x 0.74 m x (1 kPa/ 1000 N/m)
= 97.405 kPa
= 97.41 kPa

11