Properties Measurement/PVT 1

ABSTRACT

The name of this experiment is the Properties Measurement or PVT. This
experiment demonstrates the fundamental thermodynamics processes that deal with
an ideal gas. There were five separate experiments conducted with this unit which
consisted of Boyles Law Experiment, Gay-Lussacs Law, the isentropic expansion,
determination of ratio volume and heat capacity. This experiment mainly focuses on
the relationship of between the pressure, volume and temperature of an ideal gas. As
an example of the connection between the variables; when the temperature of a gas
increases, so does its pressure but when the volume increases, the pressure decreases.
With the results obtained, each theory of the experiments were proven through the
graph and calculations made.


INTRODUCTION

The Properties Measurement Apparatus is an apparatus used to study the
fundamental processes of thermodynamics. It deals with ideal gas and can be used to
understand the Law of Conservation of Energy or First Law of Thermodynamics,
Second Law of Thermodynamics and the relationship between the pressure,
temperature and volume of a gas.

An ideal gas is a hypothetical gas which obeys the formula PV=nRT where P
and T are the absolute pressure and absolute temperature respectively and R is the
constant of the particular gas. Under a set of conditions, a real gas can also behave as
an ideal gas. Apart from this equation, an ideal gas also obeys other laws such as
Boyles Law and Gay-Lussacs law.

Without us knowing, the applications of these laws are used a lot more
frequently in our daily lives. As an example; when inhaling, the diaphragm expands
which causes the pressure within the thoracic cavity to decrease and allow air to enter
as proposed through Boyles Law. Meanwhile when exhaling, the opposite occurs as
the pressure within our thoracic cavity increases, allowing air to be removed from our
body. Apart from that, we see that a hot air balloon is able to float above the clouds
Properties Measurement/PVT 2
despite being attached to a heavy basket with loads. This was made possible by the
understanding of Charles Law. The heating of air inside the balloon increases its
pressure, making it greater than the surrounding atmospheric pressure which allows it
to soar across the sky.

The knowledge of thermodynamics and relationship of ideal gas has generated
many inventions and possibilities in our world today. Therefore, it is crucial that this
field of knowledge not to be studied just as a form of numbers and fact, but with our
hope and enthusiasm of engineering a better tomorrow.


AIMS

Boyles Law Experiment

To determine the relationship between pressure and volume of an ideal gas.
To determine the experimental results with theoretical results.

Gay-Lussac Law Experiment

To determine the relationship between pressure and temperature of an ideal
gas.

I sentropic Expansion Process

To demonstrate the isentropic expansion process.

Determination of ratio volume

To determine the ratio of volume and compare it with the theoretical value

Determination of ratio of heat capacity

To determine the ratio of heat capacity.
Properties Measurement/PVT 3
THEORY

An ideal gas, or also called as perfect gas is a hypothetical gas whose
pressure, volume, and temperature corresponds with the ideal gas law that is:

PV = nRT

Although an ideal gas is imaginary, at low pressure and high temperature, the
density of a real gas decreases making it able to behave like an ideal gas. This gas
abides not only the ideal gas equation of state but also Boyles Law and Gay-Lussacs
Law.

Boyle's Law states that the product of the pressure and volume of gas is a
constant at a constant temperature. This law can be used to predict the change in
pressure of the same gaseous substance after an expansion or compression in the
volume.
PV = k
P
1
V
1
= P
2
V
2


Graph of Boyles Law
From the graph, it shows that the pressure is inversely proportional to volume
at a constant temperature. This is because under compression, the molecules within
the confined space experiences a higher frequency of effective collision with each
other as well as with the walls of the container. Vice versa, under expansion, the
Properties Measurement/PVT 4
situation proceeds in the opposite direction.
Gay-Lussac Law or also known as Charles Law states that the pressure of a
gas of fixed mass and volume is directly proportional its absolute temperature.
Therefore, when comparing a same substance under two different sets of conditions, it
can be written as:
P
1
T
2
= P
2
T
1

4, 2012
The graph shows the proportionality between the pressure and temperature of
a gas This follows the kinetic theory which states that by increasing the temperature,
the molecules gain speed which increases the frequency of effective collision
An isentropic process is a process takes place from initiation to completion
without an increase or decrease in the entropy of the system.
S = 0
Or S
1

= S
2

Also, when a gas is in an this process, the ratio of temperature after the expansion and
before can be calculated
If a process is both reversible and adiabatic (insulated), then it is an isentropic
process. An isentropic process is an idealization of an actual process, and serves as a
limiting case for an actual process. The equation of a gas in an isentropic process is:
Properties Measurement/PVT 5

where k =1.4
When determining the ratio of volume, the ratio of volume after the
exapansion and before should be equal to the ratio of pressure after the expansion and
before. This can be described as:

)
(

)


For an ideal gas, the heat capacity can be determined by the formula:
Cp = Cv + R
Where Cp = molar heat capacity at constant pressure and
Cv = molar heat capacity at constant volume
After a series of differentiation and processes, the ratio of heat capacity can be
expressed as:

where P
i
, P
int
, and P
f
are the initial, intermediate and final pressures respectively and
the theoretical value of

is 1.4

APPARATUS

Perfect Gas Expansion Apparatus (Model : TH 11)

PROCEDURE

General start-up
Properties Measurement/PVT 6
1. The equipment was connected to a single phase power supply and the unit was
switch on.
2. All valves, V1, V2 and V3 were opened. This was to make sure that the
chambers were under atmospheric pressure.
3. The valves were then closed.
4. A hose from the pump was connected to the pressurized chamber or to the
vacuumed chamber. (The tubes had not been connected at the same time)
5. The unit was ready application.
General Shut-down Procedure
1. The pump was switched off and both hoses were removed from the chambers.
2. All valves, V1, V2 and V3 were opened to release the air from inside the
chambers.
3. Power supply and main switched was turned off.
Experiment 1: Boyles Law Experiment

1. The general start up procedure was performed and all valve were fully closed.
2. Compressive pump was switch on and allowed the pressure inside the
pressurized chamber to increase up to about 150kPa. Then, the pump was
turned off and removed from the hose of the chamber.
3. The pressure reading inside the chamber was monitored until the reading
stabilized.
4. The pressure reading for both chambers was recorded as pressure before
expansion.
5. Valve 2 was fully opened and allowed the pressurized air to flow into the
atmospheric chamber.
6. The pressure reading for both chambers after the expansion was recorded.
7. The experiment is repeated with 2 other different conditions:
a) From atmospheric chamber to vacuum chamber.
b) From pressurized chamber to vacuum chamber.
8. The PV value was then calculated.

Properties Measurement/PVT 7
Experiment 2: Gay-Lussac Law Experiment

1. The general start up procedure was performed. All valves were fully closed.
2. The hose from the compressive pump was connected to pressurized chamber.
3. The compressive pump was switch on and the temperature for every increment
of 10kPa in the chamber was recorded. The pump was turned off when the
pressure PT1 reached about 160kPa.
4. Then, V1 was opened and allowed the pressurized air to flow out.
Temperature reading for every decrement of 10kPa was recorded.
5. The experiment was halted when the pressure reached an atmospheric
pressure.
6. The experiment was repeated twice to get the average value.
7. The graph of the pressure versus temperature was plotted.
Experiment 3: Determination of ratio of heat capacity
1. The general start up was performed and all valve were fully closed.
2. The hose form compressive pump was connected to the pressurized chamber.
3. The compressive pump was switched on and allowed the pressure inside the
chamber to increase until 160 kPa. Then, the pump was switch off as well as
the hose removed from the chamber.
4. The pressure reading inside was monitored until it is stabilized. The pressure
reading PT1 and temperature reading TT1 were recorded.
5. Then, V1 was slightly opened to allow the air to flow out slowly until it
reached the atmospheric pressure.
6. The pressure and temperature reading after the expansion process were
recorded.
7. The isentropic expansion process was discussed.
Experiment 4: Isentropic Expansion Process
Properties Measurement/PVT 8
1. The general start up procedure was performed and all valve were fully closed.
2. The hose was connected from the compressive pump to the pressurized
chamber.
3. The compressive pump was switch on and allowed the pressure inside the
chamber to increase until 160 kPa. Then, the pump was switched off while the
hose was remove from the chamber.
4. The pressure reading was monitored until it is stabilized. Pressure reading of
PT1 was recorded.
5. The valve V1 was opened briefly for 30 seconds and was later closed. The
pressure reading of PT1 was recorded until it became stable.
6. The pressure is display on the graph and discuss.

RESULTS

Experiment 1: Boyles Law

1
st
trial:
Before expansion After expansion
PT 1 (kPa abs) 151.1 135.6
PT 2 (kPa abs) 104.1 135.2

2
nd
trial:
Before expansion After expansion
PT 1 (kPa abs) 103.5 89.2
PT 2 (kPa abs) 59.1 88.7

3
rd
trial:
Before expansion After expansion
PT 1 (kPa abs) 126.4 103.7
PT 2 (kPa abs) 57.0 103.3


Properties Measurement/PVT 9



Experiment 2: Gay-Lussac Law

Trial 1

Trial 2 Trial 3
Pressu
re
Temperature (C) Temperature (C) Temperature (C)
(kPa
abs)
Pressuriz
ed vessel
Depresurriz
ed vessel
Pressuriz
ed vessel
Depresurriz
ed vessel
Pressuriz
ed vessel
Depresurriz
ed vessel
110 28.9 28.0 27.6 28.3 27.4 29.5
120 29.0 28.9 27.9 28.9 27.8 30.2
130 29.9 30.2 28.5 29.9 28.5 31.2
140 30.4 31.3 29.5 31.0 29.4 31.9
150 31.5 32.5 30.4 31.7 30.2 32.3
160 32.4 32.4 31.4 32.4 31.3 32.4

Pressure (kPa abs) Average temperature (C)
110 28.3
120 28.8
130 29.7
140 30.6
150 31.5
160 32.08



Properties Measurement/PVT 10

Graph of Gay-Lussacs Law


Experiment 3: I sentropic Expansion Process

Before expansion After expansion
PT 1 (kPa abs) 156.2 102.8
T1 1 (C) 29.1 27.3


Experiment 4: Determination of Ratio Volume

Condition 1: From pressurized vessel to atmospheric vessel
PT 1 (kPa abs) PT 2 (kPa abs)
Before expansion 148.0 102.3
After expansion 133.2 132.8

Condition 2: From pressurized vessel to vacuumed vessel
PT 1 (kPa abs) PT 2 (kPa abs)
Before expansion 103.0 57.0
After expansion 88.1 87.6
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
28 28.5 29 29.5 30 30.5 31 31.5 32 32.5
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
k
P
a
)

Temperature (C)
Graph of Pressure agaisnt Temperature
Properties Measurement/PVT 11
Condition 3: From atmospheric vessel to vacuumed vessel
PT 1 (kPa abs) PT 2 (kPa abs)
Before expansion 123.6 57.3
After expansion 102.0 101.6


Experiment 5: Determination of Heat Capacity

Initial Intermediate Final
PT 1 (kPa abs) 156.1 108.3 120.0
T1 1 (C) 30.2 27.3 28.0


SAMPLE CALCULATION

Experiment

1: Boyles Law

(For condition 1: from pressurized chamber to atmospheric chamber)

P
1,initial
= 151 kPa P
2,initial
= 104.1 kPa
P
1,final
= 135.6 kPa P
2,final
= 135.2 kPa
V
1
= 0.025 m
3
V
2
= 0.01237 m
3


From Boyles law,

P
1
V
1
= P
2
V
2
P
1,initial
V
1
+ P
2,initial
V
2
= P
1, final
V
1
+ P
2,final
V
2

(151 x 0.025)+ (104.1 x 0.01237) = (135.6 x 0.025) +(135.2 x .01237)

3.775 + 1.2877 = 3.39 + 1.6724
5.0627 = 5.0624

The difference by 0.0003. Therefore, result is true for Boyles Law.
Properties Measurement/PVT 12
Experiment 2: Guy-Lussacs Law

P
1
= 110 kPa T
1
= 28.3 + 273 = 301.3 K
P
2
= 120 kPa

T
2
= 28.8 + 273 = 301.8 K

P
1
T
1
= P
2
T
2

(110 kPa)( 301.3 K) = (120 kPa)( 301.8 K)
33143 = 36216

Percentage difference = |


|

Since the percentage difference is only 8.86%, the result is valid.


Experiment 3: I sentropic Expansion Process

T
2
= 27.3 C P
2
= 102.8 kPa
T
1
= 29.1 C P
1
= 156.2 kPa

where k = 1.4

)
(

)




Percentage difference |


|

The difference is 5.55% therefore the result is proven isentropic.

Properties Measurement/PVT 13
Experiment 4: Determination of Ratio Volume.

(Condition 1: from pressurized chamber to atmospheric chamber)

P
1,initial
= 148.0 kPa P
2,initial
= 102.3 kPa
P
1,final
= 133.2 kPa P
2,final
= 132.8 kPa
V
1
= 0.025 m
3

V
2
= 0.01237 m
3

)
(

Difference is 0.04 therefore result is valid.

Experiment 5: Determination of heat capacity

P
i
= 156.1 kPa P
int
= 108.3 P
f
= 120.0

Since value obtained is equal to the theoretical ratio, the result is valid.
Properties Measurement/PVT 14
DISCUSSION

As quoted from Boyles Law, the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to
the volume that it occupies. In this context, when the volume of a container holding a
gas increases, the pressure within it decreases meanwhile when the volume decreases,
the pressure increases. This can be explained through the kinetic theory of molecules.
As the volume decreases, the area of collision between the gaseous particles becomes
smaller. This leads to a more frequent collision between the molecules as well as with
the wall of the container. Eventually, the collision causes the pressure to increase.

Apart from that, Boyles equation is more often than not used to determine the
pressure or volume of a same gaseous substance once it undergoes a set of change in
either one of the variables. This is can be calculated through the formula of P
1
V
1
=
P
2
V
2.
As carried out in the calculation section, it has been proven that even though the
gas went through expansion, the product between the two variables from before and
after the process are still the same, or if not with a slight/minor difference.

Moving onto Gay-Lussacs Law or Charles Law, it states that the pressure of
a gas is directly proportional to its temperature. Opposing to Boyles Law, when the
temperature increases, so will the pressure. Again as mentioned again through the
kinetic theory of molecules, when heat is applied to a gaseous particle in a confined
space, they gain kinetic energy which prompts them to a higher frequency of
collision. This then leads to a higher pressure inside the space.

From the graph of Pressure (kPa) against Temperature (C) plotted above, it
clearly shows the proportionality between the two. Because of this, when a gas
undergoes a series of change in either one of the two variables, the initial or final
unknown can be calculated by the formula proposed as P
1
T
2
= P
2
T
1
.

Isentropic is a state of a process where there is no change in the entropy of a
system. Entropy is defined as a measure of the disorder or randomness. However, for
an isentropic expansion process, it is where there is no heat transfer occurring within
the system. This is also known as an adiabatic process. Thus, in this situation, the
Properties Measurement/PVT 15
formula

was applied and was proven that the experiment was in isentropic
state.

In the determination of heat capacity ratio, there was a step in the procedure
which required V1 to be fully opened briefly before closing it back. This was to
record the intermediate pressure. The intermediate pressure is mentioned where the
pressure in the chamber was at its lowest. This short step is defined as a non-quasi
static equilibrium. When the valve was opened, the gas from inside immediately
escaped, causing a sudden decrease in pressure. As it was closed back, the gaseous
molecules then had to collect themselves to achieved equilibrium. Although before
that happened, the molecules in the chamber were fully spread out - giving it the
lowest pressure. This was then taken as the pressure at the intermediate.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, this experiment proved the theories and laws of
thermodynamics that involved an ideal gas. This is shown from the calculation where
the results were in accordance to their theoretical values. Despite having a small
difference that was due to some experimental errors, it still managed to show the
relation of Boyles Law, Gay-Lussacs Law, the isentropic expansion process and the
determination of ratio volume and heat capacity. As for Boyles Law, the pressure of
gas was proven to be inversely proportional to its volume whereas for Gay-Lussacs,
the temperature was directly proportional to the volume. All in all, the experiment
was conducted successfully.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Before the start of each experiment, the general start up procedure should
always be conducted first so that the chambers are in atmospheric pressure.
2. When switching on the pump, make sure that the pressure within the chambers
would be set with the range as mentioned in the procedures as this greatly
affects the results of the experiments.
Properties Measurement/PVT 16
3. Make sure that the hose is removed from the chamber and the pump switch is
turned off once the desired pressure has been achieved so that this will not
alter the values.
4. A proper reading should be taken with the increment intervals of pressure and
temperature.
5. Repeat the experiments at least 3 times to get the average reading as this
yields a more accurate data.

REFERENCES

1. Mathsisfun.com,. (2014). Percentage Difference. Retrieved 11 May 2014,
from http://www.mathsisfun.com/percentage-difference.html
2. Wikipedia,. (2014). Isentropic process. Retrieved 11 May 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isentropic_process
3. Anne Marie Helmenstine, P. (2014). Gay-Lussac's Law Definition - Definition
of Gay-Lussac's Law. About.com Chemistry. Retrieved 11 May 2014, from
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryglossary/g/Gay-Lussacs-Law-
Definition.htm
4. Wikipedia,. (2014). Ideal gas law. Retrieved 11 May 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas_law
5. Wikipedia,. (2014). Boyle's law. Retrieved 11 May 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyle's_law






Properties Measurement/PVT 17
APPENDIX


PVT Unit