Second Year Thermodynamics M. Coppins 1.1 Basic Concepts
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Second Year Thermodynamics M. Coppins 1.1 Basic Concepts 1.1.1 Jargon Microscopic: on the atomic scale; involving very few or single particles (atoms, molecules, electrons, etc). Macroscopic: on the everyday scale or larger; involving very large numbers of particles. Thermodynamics is a macrocscopic theory. System: thing whose properties we are interested in, e.g., gas in container. Surroundings: things outside the system; can interact with system. System + surroundings often called “the universe” in thermodynamics text books. Isolated system: amount of matter and total energy of system is fixed, e.g., gas in closed rigid, thermally insulating container. Closed system: amount of matter in system is fixed, but energy can enter or leave system, e.g., gas in closed rigid container with walls which conduct heat. Energy can enter as heat ⇒ P (= pressure) increases. Open system: matter and energy can enter and leave it, e.g., gas in open container. If heated P stays constant (e.g., 1 atm) but number of molecules in container decreases. 1.1.2 Equilibrium = state which things settle into if left alone. In equilibrium the macroscopic properties don’t change with time. Even when macroscopic properties have settled into their equilibrium values the microscopic properties (e.g., velocity of a given molecule) are not constant. • Could have mixture with several chemically different components. Ni = number of molecules of component i. Chemical reactions ⇒ Ni’s change. Eventually chemical reac- tions stop, and the system settles into chemical equilibrium: Ni’s are constant. • Could have unbalanced forces, e.g., push piston into a container of gas → V (= volume) gets smaller. Eventually settles into mechanical equilibrium: V is constant. • Could put system into thermal contact with something at different T (= temperature). Eventually settles into thermal equilibrium: T is constant. Chemical + mechanical + thermal = thermodynamic equilibrium. 1.1.3 State variables In equilibrium macroscopic properties are • constant in time (if left alone), • uniform in space (if no external force field present1). If an external force field is acting the macroscopic properties can vary spatially, e.g., in an isothermal atmosphere (→ 1st Year SoM course, Lecture 5) the density falls with height due to gravity. State variable = a macroscopic property of a system in equilibrium (e.g., for a gas the state variables include: P , V , T , N = number of molecules). Extensive state variables are proportional to the amount of material. Intensive state variables are independent of amount of material. Combine 2 identical volumes of gas. Produces a volume of gas with 2N, 2V , P , T , i.e., N and V double (extensive), but P and T are unchanged (intensive). Specific value: extensive variable per unit mass. Denoted with lower case letters. Chemists use “moles” instead of kilograms. 1 mole is amount of stuff that contains as many particles as there are atoms in 12 g of 12C. Chemists’ specific values are therefore “molar” values. We won’t use moles in the Thermodynamics course. The most familiar state variables are P , V , N, and T . There are many others, e.g., U = internal energy, β = thermal expansion coefficient. 1.1.4 Equation of state ...is a relationship between state variables (usually P , V , N, and T ). It might be derived theoretically or found experimentally. • Ideal gas: PV = NkBT (1.1.4.1) −23 −1 (where kB = Boltzmann’s constant = 1.38 × 10 JK ). Chemists write the ideal gas equation of state in terms of moles: PV = NmRT , where Nm = the number of moles and R is the “universal gas constant”. • Van der Waals gas: N 2 P + a (V − Nb) = NkBT (1.1.4.2) V 2 (where a and b are constants; → 1st Year SoM course, Lecture 9) 1This will assumed throughout the Thermodynamics course Thermodynamics applies to other macroscopic systems than gases, in which case the state variables P and V can be replaced with other more appropriate variables, e.g., • Stretched metal wire: In this case P is replaced with J = tension, and V is replaced with L = length. Under certain conditions the equation of state has the form: J L = L0 1 + + α(T − T0) (1.1.4.3) YA where Y = Young’s modulus, A = cross-sectional area, α = coefficient of linear expansion, T0 = reference temperature, and L0 = length when T = T0 and J = 0. 1.1.5 Independent state variables Of the four state variables P , V , N, and T , we can specify any three; the equation of state then gives the value of the fourth one, e.g., ideal gas with P = 1.01 × 105 Pa (1 atm), N = 1025 molecules, T = 298 K → V = 0.41 m3 In thermodynamics we are usually interested in what happens when things change, e.g., change volume by ∆V , what is ∆T ? How many state variables can we vary independently? (1) Closed system: N = given constant. Can vary 2 of P , V , T , → equation of state gives 3rd one. Equation of State defines PVT surface, e.g. ideal gas Any point on this surface represents an equilibrium. Real substances have more complicated PVT surface, e.g., [Picture from University Physics (9th edition) by Young and Freedman.] (2) Open system: N = can change → 3 independent state variables. (3) N fixed, but two different phases (e.g., solid and liquid). Phase diagram is the projection of the PVT surface on the PT plane (→ 1st Year SoM course, Lecture 4). Two phases can only coexist in equilibrium along the lines on this diagram → extra constraint → only 1 independent state variable. [We consider the situation of two coexisting phases in detail in Lecture 3.5.] (4) Several chemically distinct components present ⇒ more independent state variables → chemistry. Most of the Thermodynamics course (Lectures 1.2 – 3.3) deals with a single component, single phase, closed system → 2 independent state variables. We will mostly concentrate on a fixed mass of gas in a container, partly because this par- ticular system is intrinsically important, and partly because it is easy to visualize what is happening. Remember, however, that thermodynamics doesn’t just apply to gases, but also to other macroscopic systems. Second Year Thermodynamics M. Coppins 1.2 T , U, S 1.2.1 Definitions The most important state variables in thermodynamics are: • T = temperature, • U = interal energy, • S = entropy. Like other state variables (e.g., P ) these are measurable macroscopic properties of things in equilibrium. T is in the equation of state (→ Lecture 1.1). U and S can be found from the other state variables. In thermodynamics we are usually concerned with changes in things, e.g., ∆T = Tfinal −Tinit. First law deals with ∆U (→ Lecture 1.4). Second law deals with ∆S (→ Lecture 2.3). Although thermodynamics is a macroscopic theory, this lecture will include a brief and very superficial look at T , U and S from a microscopic viewpoint. The microscopic theory will be covered in detail next term in the Statistical Physics course. 1.2.2 Temperature Microscopic view: T describes how particles of a system are distributed with respect to energy. Boltzmann law (→ 1st Year SoM course, Lecture 5): probability of particle having energy close to E, in −βE equilibrium, is proportional to e , where β = 1/kBT . From a theoretical point of view it would be better to replace the state variable T with β, but we are too used to temperature in everyday life. Example: gas molecules in Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution function 1/2 2 m mvx f(vx) = exp − . 2πkBT 2kBT The probability that the x component of any given molecule’s velocity is between vx and vx +dvx is f(vx)dvx. Increase T ⇒ particles spread out more with respect to energy. We always use absolute temperatures. If β was used instead of T then absolute zero would correspond to β = ∞. Looked at this way the inaccessibility of absolute zero seems very natural. Macroscopic view: Two systems are in thermal equilibrium if they have the same T . T is sometimes approximately constant during some process. The theoretical idealization of this is an isothermal process, in which T is kept constant by placing the system in contact with a heat reservoir (i.e., an object so large that heat flow in or out of it does not change its temperature). Example: isothermal compression. Tgas stays equal to Tres during the compression because heat flows from the the gas into the reservoir. 1.2.3 Internal energy Microscopic view: U = total (kinetic + potential) energy of all the particles in the system. Ideal gas: particles do not interact (i.e., no potential energy of interaction) n ⇒ can use theorem of equipartition of energy: U = N d k T 2 B (nd = number of degrees of freedom: → 1st Year SoM course, Lecture 3) For a fixed mass of ideal gas it can be proved thermodynamically that the internal energy depends only on its temperature (→ Lecture 3.2). Microscopic theory required to obtain the functional form. Equipartition predicts n U = d Nk T (1.2.3.1) 2 B (nd = constant for give material, e.g., nd = 3 for a monatomic gas). Ideal gas: U = constant ⇔ T = constant. 3 N 2 Van der Waals gas: U = Nk T − a (depends on both T and V ). 2 B V Real gas: U depends on both T and V . 1.2.4 Entropy Microscopic view: S = kB ln W , where W = number of microstates corresponding to given macrostate. Increasing W ⇒ increasing disorder at microscopic level. Consider a system consting of N gas molecules in a box of volume V . Divide the box into a number of equal sized cells. Microscopic view: we know which cell each individual molecule is in.