Tutorial Problem: Basics

1. In a vertical piston– cylinder assembly(fig.1), a vertical shaft whose cross-sectional

area is 0.8 cm2 is attached to the top of the piston. The masses of the piston and
attached shaft are 24.5 kg and 0.5 kg, respectively. The piston diameter is 10 cm. The
local atmospheric pressure is 1 bar. Determine the magnitude, F, of the force acting
on the shaft, in N, required if the gas pressure is 3 bar. The piston moves smoothly
in the cylinder and g =9.81 m/s2. [1333.5N]

2. The gage pressure of the air in the tank shown in fig.2 is measured to be 80
kPa. Determine the differential height h of the mercury column. [58.198cm]

3. Oxygen (O2) gas within a piston–cylinder assembly undergoes an expansion

from a volume V1 = 0.01 m3 to a volume V2 = 0.03 m3. The relationship between
pressure and volume during the process is p = AV-1 + B, where A =0.06 bar.m3 and
B =3.0 bar. For the O2, determine (a) the initial and final pressures, each in bar,
and (b) the work, in kJ. [12.59kJ]

4. A system of volume V contains a mass m of gas at pressure p and temperature T. The macroscopic
 a 
properties of the system obey the following relationship:  p + 2  (V − b ) = mRT where a, b and R constants.
 V 
Obtain an expression for the displacement work done by the system during a constant-temperature
expansion from volume V1 to volume V2. Calculate the work done by a system which contains 10 kg of this
gas expanding from 1 m3 to 10 m3 at a temperature of 293 K. Use the values a = 15.7 x 104 Nm4, b = 1.07 x
10-2 m3, and R = 0.278 kJ/kg-K. [1742.14kJ]

5. Air is contained in a vertical piston-cylinder assembly by a piston of mass 50kg and having a face area of
0.01m2. The mass of the air is 4 g, and initially the air occupies a volume of 5L. The atmosphere exerts a
pressure of 100 kPa on the top of the piston. Heat transfer of magnitude 1.41kJ occurs slowly from the air
to the surroundings, and the volume of the air decreases to 0.0025m3. Neglecting friction between the piston
and the cylinder wall, determine the change in specific internal energy of the air, in kJ/kg. [-259.37kJ/kg]

6. A piston–cylinder device initially contains 0.6 m3 of nitrogen gas at 500 kPa and 30°C. An electric heater
within the device is turned on and is allowed to pass a current of 2 A for 3 min from a 220V source. Nitrogen
expands at constant pressure, and a heat loss of 3000 J occurs during the process. Determine the final
temperature of nitrogen. [325K]

7. A frictionless piston–cylinder device initially contains air at 200 kPa, 300K and 0.2 m3. At this state, a
linear spring (F ∝ x) is touching the piston but exerts no force on it. The air is now heated to a final state of
0.4 m3 and 400 kPa. Determine (a) the total work done by the air and (b) the amount of heat transfer.
[60kJ,360.22kJ]

8. A gas undergoes a thermodynamic cycle consisting of three processes: Process 1-2 constant volume,
V=0.028m3, U 2 - U1 =26.4kJ. Process 2-3: expansion with pV=constant, U 3 = U 2 and process 3-1: constant
pressure, p=1.4bar, W3−1 = -10.5kJ. There are no significant changes in kinetic and potential energy, (a)
Sketch the cycle on a p-V diagram (b) calculate the net work for the cycle, kJ (c) calculate the heat transfer
for the process 2-3 and process 3-1, in kJ. [8.28kJ,18.78kJ, -36.9kJ