Experiment1.

FirstLawAnalysisDeterminingEquilibriumTemperature
ofaMixture
Introduction
Asystemisdefinedasaquantityofmatteroraregioninspacechosenforstudy.Themassorregion
outsidethesystemiscalledthesurroundings.Therealorimaginarysurfacethatseparatesthesystem
fromitssurroundingsiscalledtheboundary.Aclosedsystem(alsoknownasacontrolmassorjustsystem)
consistsofafixedamountofmass,andnomasscancrossitsboundary.Nomasscanenterorleaveda
closedsystembutenergy,intheformofheatorwork,cancrosstheboundary.If,asaspecialcase,even
energyisnotallowedtocrosstheboundary,thatsystemiscalledanisolatedsystem.Inthisexperiment,
afirstlawanalysiswillbeusedtodeterminetheequilibriumtemperatureoftwoincompressiblefluids
initiallyataspecifiedmassandtemperature.
Thefirstlawofthermodynamicsisessentiallyanexpressionoftheconservationofenergyprinciple.Taking
heattransfertothesystemandworkdonebythesystemtobepositivequantities,theenergybalancefor
aclosedsystem(neglectingchangesinkineticandpotentialenergy)canbeexpressedas
(1)

where

(2)

Notetheamountofheattransfer,Q,intothesystem,andtheamountofwork,W,producedbythesystem
areequalto thechangeininternalenergy,U,ofthesystem.Thechangeininternalenergy,U,ofthe
systemistheproductofthemassofthesystem,m,andthechangeinthespecificinternalenergyofthe
system,u.
Foranisolatedsystemthechangeininternalenergyiszero.Theamountofenergyneededtoraisethe
temperatureofaunitmassofasubstancebyonedegreeiscalledthespecificheatatconstantvolume,
cv,foraconstantvolumeprocessandthespecificheatatconstantpressure,cp,foraconstantpressure
process.Ifafluidisincompressibletheaforementionedspecificheatsareidentical.
(3)

Foridealgasesthespecificinternalenergy,u,andspecificheat,cv,arefunctionsoftemperature,T,alone
andthechangeininternalenergyofasystemcanbeapproximatedas

(4)

Asanexample,considerahotandacoldfluidinitiallyataspecifiedmassandtemperature,andmixed
togetherinanisolatedsystem.Thetwofluidsstartataninitialtemperature,Tc,iandTh,i,anduponmixing
arriveatafinalequilibriumtemperature,Teq.Applyingthefirstlawofthermodynamicsonthesystem
yields
0

(5)

(6)

16

(7)

Ifthemassandinitialtemperatureofthetwofluidsareknowntheequilibriumtemperaturecanbesolved
for.
Ittakesalargeamountofenergytomeltasolidofvaporizealiquid.Theamountofenergyabsorbedor
releasedduringaphasechangeprocessiscalledthelatentheat.Theamountofenergyabsorbedduring
meltingiscalledthelatentheatoffusion,lf,andisequivalenttotheamountofenergyreleasedduring
freezing.Themagnitudeofthelatentheatdependsonthetemperatureorpressureatwhichthephase
changeoccurs.Considerahotfluidmixedwithaninitiallyfrozenliquid(e.g.ice).Whentheiceismixed
withthecoldfluidtheiceeventuallymeltsandanequilibriumtemperatureofthemixtureisachieved.
Thechangeininternalenergyfromtheinitialfreezingstatetothefinalequilibriumstateis
0

(8)

wheremisthemassofthefrozenfluid.Thus,theheatlostbythehotfluidisequaltotheheatgainedby
thecoldfluidinanisolatedsystem.Notethattheinitialtemperatureofthecoldfluidisthetemperature
atwhichthefluidfreezes(e.g.0Cforwater).

Experiment
Theequilibriumtemperatureofvariouscombinationsofhotwater,coldwater,andicewillbedetermined
experimentallyandcomparedtothetheoreticalsolutionobtainedthroughafirstlawanalysis.Thelatent
heatoffusionwillalsobedetermined.Beforebeginninganyexperiment,determinetherange,accuracy,
andlimitsofanymeasuringdevices.Thesevalueswillbeusedforanexperimentaluncertaintyanalysis.
Forthefirstpartofthisexperiment,water(500gwillbeenoughwaterforall3trials)willbeheatedina
glassbeakeronahotplateto60Candmaintainedatthattemperaturethroughouttheexperiment.A
similar volume of water will be cooled to approximately 5C by adding ice and maintained at that
temperaturethroughouttheexperiment.Forthefirstpartoftheexperiment,thecoldfluidmustbemixed
untilallicehasmelted.Thecoldfluidreservoirshouldbemaintainedat5Cthroughouttheexperiment.
Similarly,oncethehotfluidhasstartedboilingthetemperatureofthehotplateshouldbereducedto
maintainafluidtemperatureof60Cthroughouttheexperiment.
Various combinations of hot and cold water will be mixed together in an insulated reservoir (e.g. a
Styrofoamcup)asshowninTable1.Thetotalmassofthemixturemustnotexceed200.0ginorderto
usethescalespresentinlab.Whencombingthetwofluids,makecertainthatanywaterthatmaybe
leftbehindbecauseitadheredtothewallofthepouringcontainerisaccountedfor.Theinitialmass
andtemperatureofthehotandcoldfluids(beforemixing)mustberecordedbythermocouplesanddigital
scalespresentinlab.Thefinalequilibriumtemperatureofthemixtureshouldsimilarlyberecorded.
Table3.EquilibriumTemperatureExperimentalTrials

Trial MassandTemperature1 MassandTemperature2

1

75gliquidH20at60oC

75gliquidH20at5oC

75gliquidH20at60oC

50gliquidH20at5oC

75gliquidH20at60oC

25gliquidH20at5oC

17

Each trial should be repeated a minimum of 3 times in order to perform a statistical analysis. The
experimentally calculated equilibrium temperature should be compared to the theoretical equilibrium
temperatureinthetechnicalreport.
Forthesecondpartofthisexperiment,variousamountsofliquidwateratdifferenttemperatures(asseen
inTable2)willbemixedwith1cubeoficeuntilalloftheicemeltsandanequilibriumtemperatureis
achieved.Theinitialtemperatureoftheicecanassumedtobe0C.Theinitialmassandtemperatureof
the liquid as well as the initial mass and temperature of the ice should be recorded. The equilibrium
temperatureofthemixtureshouldberecordedatthepointthatnomoreiceexists.Eachtrialshouldbe
repeated a minimum of 3 times in order to perform a statistical analysis. After the initial mass and
temperature as well as the equilibrium temperature are recorded the latent heat of fusion can be
calculated. The experimentally calculated latent heat of fusion should be compared to experimental
valuesaspresentedinliterature.
Table4.LatentHeatofFusionExperimentalTrials

Trial MassandTemperature AmountofIce

1

50gliquidH20at60oC

1icecube(XXg)

50gliquidH20at40oC

1icecube(XXg)

50gliquidH20at20oC

1icecube(XXg)

AnalysisandReporting
Experimentallydetermineequilibriumtemperaturesandcomparetotheoreticalvaluesfromafirstlaw
analysis.Interpretresults(e.g.effectofmassorinitialtemperatures).Determinethelatentheatoffusion
andcomparetoexperimentalvaluesaspresentedinliterature.

18