# 15.2 The first law of thermodynamics and some simple processes

 Page 1 / 12
• Describe the processes of a simple heat engine.
• Explain the differences among the simple thermodynamic processes—isobaric, isochoric, isothermal, and adiabatic.
• Calculate total work done in a cyclical thermodynamic process.

One of the most important things we can do with heat transfer is to use it to do work for us. Such a device is called a heat engine    . Car engines and steam turbines that generate electricity are examples of heat engines. [link] shows schematically how the first law of thermodynamics applies to the typical heat engine.

The illustrations above show one of the ways in which heat transfer does work. Fuel combustion produces heat transfer to a gas in a cylinder, increasing the pressure of the gas and thereby the force it exerts on a movable piston. The gas does work on the outside world, as this force moves the piston through some distance. Heat transfer to the gas cylinder results in work being done. To repeat this process, the piston needs to be returned to its starting point. Heat transfer now occurs from the gas to the surroundings so that its pressure decreases, and a force is exerted by the surroundings to push the piston back through some distance. Variations of this process are employed daily in hundreds of millions of heat engines. We will examine heat engines in detail in the next section. In this section, we consider some of the simpler underlying processes on which heat engines are based.

## PV Diagrams and their relationship to work done on or by a gas

A process by which a gas does work on a piston at constant pressure is called an isobaric process    . Since the pressure is constant, the force exerted is constant and the work done is given as

$P\Delta V\text{.}$
$W=\text{Fd}$

See the symbols as shown in [link] . Now $F=\text{PA}$ , and so

$W=\text{PAd}\text{.}$

Because the volume of a cylinder is its cross-sectional area $A$ times its length $d$ , we see that $\text{Ad}=\Delta V$ , the change in volume; thus,

does the force in a system result in the energy transfer?
full meaning of GPS system
how to prove that Newton's law of universal gravitation F = GmM ______ R²
sir dose it apply to the human system
prove that the centrimental force Fc= M1V² _________ r
prove that centripetal force Fc = MV² ______ r
Kaka
how lesers can transmit information
griffts bridge derivative
below me
please explain; when a glass rod is rubbed with silk, it becomes positive and the silk becomes negative- yet both attracts dust. does dust have third types of charge that is attracted to both positive and negative
what is a conductor
Timothy
hello
Timothy
below me
why below you
Timothy
no....I said below me ...... nothing below .....ok?
dust particles contains both positive and negative charge particles
Mbutene
corona charge can verify
Stephen
when pressure increases the temperature remain what?
remains the temperature
betuel
what is frequency
define precision briefly
CT scanners do not detect details smaller than about 0.5 mm. Is this limitation due to the wavelength of x rays? Explain.
hope this helps
what's critical angle
The Critical Angle Derivation So the critical angle is defined as the angle of incidence that provides an angle of refraction of 90-degrees. Make particular note that the critical angle is an angle of incidence value. For the water-air boundary, the critical angle is 48.6-degrees.
okay whatever
Chidalu
pls who can give the definition of relative density?
Temiloluwa
the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a standard, usually water for a liquid or solid, and air for a gas.
Chidalu
What is momentum
mass ×velocity
Chidalu
it is the product of mass ×velocity of an object
Chidalu
how do I highlight a sentence]p? I select the sentence but get options like copy or web search but no highlight. tks. src
then you can edit your work anyway you want