Thermodynamics Ideal and Real Gases

3.2.02-01 Heat capacity of gases

What you can learn about

 Equation of state for ideal
gases
 1st law of thermodynamics
 Universal gas constant
 Degree of freedom
 Mole volumes
 Isobars
 Isotherms
 Isochors and adiabatic
changes of slate

Principle:
Heat is added to a gas in a glass ves-
sel by an electric heater which is
switched on briefly. The temperature
increase results in a pressure
increase, which is measured with a
manometer. Under isobaric condi-
tions a temperature increase results
in a volume dilatation, which can be
read from a gas syringe. The molar
heat capacities CV and Cp are calcu-
lated from the pressure or volume
change.

What you need:

Precision manometer 03091.00 1
Barometer/Manometer, hand-held 07136.00 1
Digital counter, 4 decades 13600.93 1
Digital multimeter 07134.00 2
Aspirator bottle, clear glas 10000 ml 02629.00 1
Gas syringe, 100 ml 02614.00 2
Stopcock, 1-way, straight, glass 36705.00 1
Stopcock, 3-way, t-sh., capil., glass 36732.00 1
Rubber stopper, d = 32/26 mm, 3 holes 39258.14 1
Rubber stopper, d = 59.5/50.5 mm, 1 hole 39268.01 1
Rubber tubing, d = 6 mm 39282.00 2
Nickel electrode, d = 3 mm, w. socket 45231.00 2
Nickel electrode 7640 mm2 45218.00 1
Chrome-nickel wire, d = 0.1 mm, 100 m 06109.00 1
Scissors, straight, l = 140 mm 64625.00 1 Pressure change p as a function of the heat-up time t. U = 4.59 V,
Push-button switch 06039.00 1 I = 0.43 A
Two way switch 06030.00 1
Connecting cord, l = 500 mm, yellow 07361.02 3 Tasks:
Connecting cord, l = 500 mm, red 07361.01 1 Determine the molar heat capacities
Connecting cord, l = 750 mm, red 07362.01 1 of air at constant volume CV and at
Connecting cord, l = 500 mm, blue 07361.04 4 constant pressure Cp.
Tripod base -PASS- 02002.55 1
Retort stand, h = 750 mm 37694.00 2
Universal clamp 37715.00 2
Right angle clamp 37697.00 2

Complete Equipment Set, Manual on CD-ROM included

Heat capacity of gases P2320201

128 Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co. KG D - 37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Heat capacity of gases 3.2.02
-01

Related topics Chrome-nickel wire, d = 0.1 mm, 100 m 06109.00 1

Equation of state for ideal gases, 1st law of thermodynamics, Scissors, straight, l = 140 mm 64625.00 1
universal gas constant, degree of freedom, mole volumes, iso- Push-button switch 06039.00 1
bars, isotherms, isochors and adiabatic changes of slate. Two way switch 06030.00 1
Connecting cord, l = 500 mm, yellow 07361.02 3
Connecting cord, l = 500 mm, red 07361.01 1
Principle Connecting cord, l = 750 mm, red 07362.01 1
Heat is added to a gas in a glass vessel by an electric heater Connecting cord, l = 500 mm, blue 07361.04 4
which is switched on briefly. The temperature increase results Tripod base -PASS- 02002.55 1
in a pressure increase, which is measured with a manometer. Retort stand, h = 750 mm 37694.00 2
Under isobaric conditions a temperature increase results in a Universal clamp 37715.00 2
volume dilatation, which can be read from a gas syringe. The Right angle clamp 37697.00 2
molar heat capacities CV and Cp are calculated from the pres-
sure or volume change.
Tasks
Determine the molar heat capacities of air at constant volume
Equipment
CV and at constant pressure Cp.
Precision manometer 03091.00 1
Barometer/Manometer, hand-held 07136.00 1
Digital counter, 4 decades 13600.93 1 Set-up and procedure
Digital multimeter 07134.00 2 Perform the experimental set-up according to Figs. 1 and 2.
Aspirator bottle, clear glas 10000 ml 02629.00 1 Insert the two nickel electrodes into two holes in the three-
Gas syringe, 100 ml 02614.00 2 hole rubber stopper and fix the terminal screws to the lower
Stopcock, 1-way, straight, glass 36705.00 1 ends of the electrodes. Screw two pieces of chrome nickel
Stopcock, 3-way, t-sh., capil., glass 36732.00 1 wire, which are each about 15 cm long, into the clamps
Rubber stopper, d = 32/26 mm, 3 holes 39258.14 1 between these two electrodes so that they are electrically
Rubber stopper, d = 59.5/50.5 mm, 1 hole 39268.01 1 connected in parallel. The wires must not touch each other.
Rubber tubing, d = 6 mm 39282.00 2 Insert the one-way stopcock into the third hole of the stopper
Nickel electrode, d = 3 mm, w. socket 45231.00 2 and insert the thus-prepared stopper in the lower opening of
Nickel electrode 76
40 mm2 45218.00 1 the bottle.

Fig. 1: Experimental set-up (CV).

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 LEP
3.2.02 Heat capacity of gases
-01

The 5 V output of the electrical 4-decade digital counter Fig. 3: Connecting the counter-timer.
serves as the power source. The electrical circuit is illustrated (Function: Timer; Trigger: )
in Fig. 3.
To determine CV, connect the precision manometer to the bot-
tle with a piece of tubing. To do this, insert the second stopper,
which has been equipped with the three-way stopcock, into the
upper opening of the bottle (Fig. 1). The manometer must be
positioned exactly horizontally. Read the pressure increase
immediately after cessation of the heating process.
The manometer must be filled with the oil which is supplied
with the device. The scale is now calibrated in hPa. The riser
tube of the manometer must be well wetted before each
measurement.
Start the measuring procedure by activating the push-button
switch. The measuring period should be as short as possible
(less than one second). Determine the current which flows For this reason it may be necessary to use only one heating
during the measurement and the voltage separately at the end wire.
of the measuring series. To achieve this, connect one of the In order to be able to determine Cp replace the manometer
digital multimeters in series as an ammeter and the other in with two gas syringes, which are connected to the bottle via
parallel as a voltmeter. the three-way stopcock (compare Fig. 2). One of the gas
Perform at least 10 measurements. After each measurement, syringes is mounted horizontally and the other is positioned
perform a pressure equalisation with the ambient atmospheric vertically with its plunger oriented downwards. While making
pressure by opening the three-way cock. The electrical current measurements, the three-way cock must be positioned in
which flows during the measurements must not be too strong, such a manner that it only connects the vertical syringe with
i.e. it must be sufficiently weak to limit the pressure increase due the bottle. To increase the plunger's mass, a nickel sheet
to the heating of the gas to a maximum of 1 hPa. metal electrode is attached to it with two-sided tape. Start the

Fig. 2: Experimental set-up (Cp )

2 23202-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Heat capacity of gases 3.2.02
-01

plunger rotating manually before the measurement so that it internal energy can be calculated with the aid of the kinetic
rotates throughout measurement. In this manner the static gas theory from the number of degrees of freedom f:
friction between the plunger and the body of the syringe is
minimised and the measured values are sufficiently exact. If 1
Ui  fk N T n (7)
the plunger stops prematurely, the volume increase (
V) read 2 B A
on the vertically mounted syringe is too low. Determine the air
pressure, which is required for the calculations, with the aid of where
digital barometers. For the calculations use a value which lies
14 hPa lower as the atmospheric pressure (compare Theory kB = 1.38 10-23 J/K (Boltzmann Constant)
and evaluation) for the pressure in the gas container. In this NA = 6.02 1023 mol-1 (Avogadro's number)
way the pressure depression due to the mass of the syringe's
plunger is taken into consideration. Through substitution of
For the determination of Cp, also perform at least 10 measure-
R = kB NA (8)
ments. After each measurement remove air from the system
until the vertical syringe again exhibits the initial volume deter-
it follows that
mined in the first measurement. To do this, turn the three-way
cock in such a manner that both syringes and the bottle are f
CV  R (9)
connected with each other. 2
and taking equation (6) into consideration:
f2
Theory and evaluation Cp  a bR (10)
The first law of thermodynamics can be illustrated particularly 2
well with an ideal gas. This law describes the relationship The number of degrees of freedom of a molecule is a function
between the change in internal intrinsic energy
Ui the heat of its structure. All particles have 3 degrees of translational
exchanged with the surroundings
Q and the constant-pres- freedom. Diatomic molecules have an additional two degrees
sure change pdV. of rotational freedom around the principal axes of inertia.
Triatomic molecules have three degrees of rotational freedom.
dQ = dUi + pdV (1) Air consists primarily of oxygen (approximately 20 %) and
nitrogen (circa 80 %). As a first approximation, the following
The molar heat capacity C of a substance results from the can be assumed to be true for air:
amount of absorbed heat and the temperature change per
mole: f = 5
1 dQ CV = 2.5 R
C (2)
n dT CV = 20.8 J K-1 mol-1
and
n = number of moles
Cp = 3.5 R
One differentiates between the molar heat capacity at con- Cp = 29.1 J K-1 mol-1.
stant volume CV and the molar heat capacity at constant pres-
sure Cp.
Determination of Cp
According to equations (1) and (2) and under isochoric condi- The energy
Q is supplied to the gas by the electrical heater:
tions (V const., dV = 0), the following is true:

Q = U I
t (11)
1 dUi
CV  (3)
n dT where
U = the voltage which is applied to the heater wires
and under isobaric conditions (p = const., dp = 0): (measured separately)
I = the current, which flows through the heater
1 dUi
a b
dV wires (measured separately)
Cp  p (4)
n dT dT
t = the period of time in which current flowed
through the wires
Taking the equation of state for ideal gases into consideration: At constant pressure the temperature increase
T induces a
volume increase
V. From the equation of state for ideal
pV = n R T (5) gases, it follows that:
it follows that the difference between Cp and CV for ideal nR V
V  T  T (12)
gases is equal to the universal gas constant R. p T
and taking equation (2) into consideration, the following
Cp CV = R (6) results from equations (11) and (12):
It is obvious from equation (3) that the molar heat capacity CV 1 U I t V
Cp  (13)
is a function of the internal intrinsic energy of the gas. The n V T

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 23202-01 3
 LEP
3.2.02 Heat capacity of gases
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The molar volume of a gas at standard pressure p0 = 1013 hPa Fig. 4: Volume change
V as a function of the heat-up time
and T0 = 273.2K is:
t. U = 4.59 V, I = 0.43 A.

V0 = 22.414 l/mol.

The molar volume is:

p0 V0 T
Vmol  (14)
T0 p

In accordance with the following, the number of moles in vol-

ume V is:
V
n (15)
Vmol

Cp can be calculated using equation (13) under consideration

of (14) and (15):
p0 V0 UI t
Cp  (16) Determination of CV
T0 p V
Under isochoric conditions, the temperature increase
T pro-
duces a pressure increase
p. The pressure measurement
The pressure p used in equation (16) is calculated from the results in a minute alteration of the volume which must be
atmospheric pressure minus the pressure reduction due to the taken into consideration in the calculation:
weight of the syringe's plunger. The pressure reduction is cal-
p
1p V  Vp2 (17)
culated from: V T
T  V  p 
nR nR pV
mK g
pK 
FK
It follows from equations (3) and (1) that:
0.1139 kg 9.81 ms 2
= 1 Q  pV
7.55 10 4 m2 CV  (18)
n T
and with equations (11) and (17) one obtains:
= 1480 kg m-1 s-1 = 14.8 hPa
p V U It pV
p = pa pK C (19)
n T pV  Vp
= 975 hPa 14.8 hPa
The indicator tube in the manometer has a radius of r = 2 mm.
= 960 hPa A pressure change of p = 0.147 hPa causes an alteration of
1 cm in length; the corresponding change in volume is there-
where fore:
p = the atmospheric pressure minus the pressure reduction
due to the weight of the syringe's plunger
V = a
p (20)
pK = the pressure reduction due to the weight of the plunger
where
pa = measured atmospheric pressure
3
mK = 0.1139 kg = mass of the plunger 1 cm cm
a = p r2 = 0.855 (21)
0.147 hPa hPa
g = 9.81 m s-2 = acceleration of gravity thus
-4 2
FK = 7.55 10 m = area of the plunger p V U It a p p
CV = (22)
nT (a p  V) p
The slope of the straight line in Fig. 4 is equal to Taking equations (14) and (15) into consideration, it follows
that:
V ml
p0 V0 ap
a b
= 5.242 U It
t s CV = (23)
T0 (a p  V) p a p  V
with

U = 4.59 V and I = 0.43 A The slope of the straight line in Fig. 5 is equal to
Cp is obtained with equation (16) p hPa
= 0.529
-1
Cp = 31.29 J K mol 7% -1 t s

4 23202-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Heat capacity of gases 3.2.02
-01

Fig. 5: Pressure change
p as a function of the heat-up time As a consequence of heat losses to the surroundings, the

t. U = 4.59 V, I = 0.43 A experimentally determined values for Cp and CV are somewhat
larger than the theoretical ones. The difference between the
molar heat capacities provides the value for R.

The experiment results give

R = Cp Cv
= 9.27 J K-1 mol-1 9%

Value taken from literature:

R = 8.3 J K-1 mol-1

Note
Using this apparatus, other gases (e. g. carbon dioxide or
argon) can also be measured. These gases are then intro-
duced through the stopcock on the bottom of the vessel.

Cv can be calculated using equation (23) if equation (21) is Data and Results
taken into consideration.
Literature values:
With the atmospheric pressure Cp(oxygen) = 29.4 J K-1 mol-1
CV(oxygen) = 21.1 J K-1 mol-1
p = 1011 hPa
Cp(nitrogen) = 29.1 J K-1 mol-1
(this part of the experiment was done on another day), a vol- CV(nitrogen) = 20.8 J K-1 mol-1
ume of
R = 8.314 J K-1 mol-1
V = 10 l
= 83.14 hPa l K-1 mol-1
U = 4.59 and  = 0.43 A
Experimental results:
the following value for CV is obtained:
Cp (air) = 33 J K-1 mol-1
CV = 22.02 J K-1 mol-1 5% Cv (air) = 26 J K-1 mol-1

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 23202-01 5
 LEP
3.2.02 Heat capacity of gases
-01

6 23202-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen