Raymond A.

Serway
Chris Vuille

Chapter Ten
Thermal Physics
 Thermal Physics
• Thermal physics is the study of
– Temperature
– Heat
– How these affect matter

Introduction
 Thermal Physics, cont
• Descriptions require definitions of
temperature, heat and internal energy
• Heat leads to changes in internal energy and
therefore to changes in temperature
• Gases are critical in harnessing internal energy
to do work

Introduction
 Definitions
• The process by which energy is exchanged between
objects because of temperature differences is called
heat
• Objects are in thermal contact if energy can be
exchanged between them
• Thermal equilibrium exists when two objects are in
thermal contact with each other and there is no net
exchange of energy between them

Section 10.1
 Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

• If objects A and B are separately in thermal equilibrium with a

third object, C, then A and B are in thermal equilibrium with
each other
– Object C could be the thermometer
• Allows a definition of temperature

Section 10.1
Temperature from the Zeroth Law
• Temperature is the property that determines
whether or not an object is in thermal
equilibrium with other objects
• Two objects in thermal equilibrium with each
other are at the same temperature

Section 10.1
 Thermometers
• Used to measure the temperature of an object or a
system
• Make use of physical properties that change with
temperature
• Many physical properties can be used
– Volume of a liquid
– Length of a solid
– Pressure of a gas held at constant volume
– Volume of a gas held at constant pressure
– Electric resistance of a conductor
– Color of a very hot object

Section 10.2
 Thermometers, cont
• A mercury
thermometer is an
example of a common
thermometer
• The level of the
mercury rises due to
thermal expansion
• Temperature can be
defined by the height of
the mercury column

Section 10.2
 Temperature Scales
• Thermometers can be calibrated by placing
them in thermal contact with an environment
that remains at constant temperature
– Environment could be mixture of ice and water in
thermal equilibrium
– Also commonly used is water and steam in
thermal equilibrium

Section 10.2
 Celsius Scale
• Temperature of an ice-water mixture is defined as 0°
C
– This is the ice point or the freezing point of water
• Temperature of a water-steam mixture is defined as
100° C
– This is the steam point or the boiling point of water
• Distance between these points is divided into 100
segments or degrees

Section 10.2
 Gas Thermometer
• Temperature readings
are nearly independent
of the gas
– As long as the gas
pressure is low
– The temperature needs
to be well above the
temperature at which
the gas liquefies
• Pressure varies with
temperature when
maintaining a constant
volume
Section 10.2
 Pressure-Temperature Graph
• All gases extrapolate to
the same temperature
at zero pressure
• This temperature is
absolute zero

Section 10.2
 Kelvin Scale
• When the pressure of a gas goes to zero, its
temperature is –273.15° C
– This temperature is called absolute zero
• This is the zero point of the Kelvin scale
– –273.15° C = 0 K
• To convert: TC = T – 273.15
– The size of the degree in the Kelvin scale is the same as the
size of a Celsius degree

Section 10.2
 Modern Definition of Kelvin Scale
• Defined in terms of two points
– Agreed upon by International Committee on Weights and
Measures in 1954
• First point is absolute zero
• Second point is the triple point of water
– The triple point is the single point where water can exist as
solid, liquid, and gas in equilibrium
– Single temperature and pressure
– Occurs at 0.01° C and P = 4.58 mm Hg

Section 10.2
Modern Definition of Kelvin Scale, cont
• The temperature of the triple point of water
on the Kelvin scale is 273.16 K
• Therefore, the current definition of the Kelvin
is defined as 1/273.16 of the temperature of
the triple point of water

Section 10.2
 Some Kelvin Temperatures
• Some representative
Kelvin temperatures
• Note, this scale is
logarithmic
• Absolute zero has never
been reached

Section 10.2
 Fahrenheit Scales
• Most common temperature scale used in the
US
• Temperature of the ice point is 32° F
• Temperature of the steam point is 212° F
• 180 divisions between the points

Section 10.2
Converting Among Temperature Scales

Section 10.2
Comparing Temperature Scales

Section 10.2
 Thermal Expansion
• The thermal expansion of an object is a consequence
of the change in the average separation between its
constituent atoms or molecules
• At ordinary temperatures, molecules vibrate with a
small amplitude
• As temperature increases, the amplitude increases
– This causes the object as a whole to expand

Section 10.3
 Linear Expansion
• For small changes in temperature

• α, the coefficient of linear expansion, depends

on the material
– See table 10.1
– These are average coefficients, they can vary
somewhat with temperature

Section 10.3
 Applications of Thermal Expansion –
Bimetallic Strip

• Thermostats
– Use a bimetallic strip
– Two metals expand differently
• Since they have different coefficients of expansion

Section 10.3
 Area Expansion
• Two dimensions expand
according to

–  is the coefficient of
area expansion

Section 10.3
 Volume Expansion
• Three dimensions expand

– For liquids, the coefficient of volume expansion is

given in the table

Section 10.3
 More Applications of Thermal
Expansion
• Pyrex® Glass
– Thermal stresses are smaller than for ordinary
glass
• Sea levels
– Warming the oceans will increase the volume of
the oceans

Section 10.3
 Unusual Behavior of Water

• As the temperature of water increases from 0°C to 4°C, it

contracts and its density increases
• Above 4°C, water exhibits the expected expansion with
increasing temperature
• Maximum density of water is 1000 kg/m3 at 4°C

Section 10.3
 Ideal Gas
• If a gas is placed in a container
– It expands to fill the container uniformly
– Its pressure will depend on the
• Size of the container
• The temperature
• The amount of gas
• The pressure, volume, temperature and amount of
gas are related to each other by an equation of state

Section 10.4
 Ideal Gas, cont
• The equation of state can be complicated
• It can be simplified if the gas is maintained at
a low pressure
• Most gases at room temperature and pressure
behave approximately as an ideal gas

Section 10.4
 Characteristics of an Ideal Gas
• Collection of atoms or molecules that move
randomly
• Exert no long-range force on one another
• Each particle is individually point-like
– Occupying a negligible volume

Section 10.4
 Moles
• It’s convenient to express the amount of gas in a
given volume in terms of the number of moles, n

• One mole is the amount of the substance that

contains as many particles as there are atoms in 12 g
of carbon-12

Section 10.4
 Avogadro’s Number
• The number of particles in a mole is called
Avogadro’s Number
– NA=6.02 x 1023 particles / mole
– Defined so that 12 g of carbon contains NA atoms
• The mass of an individual atom can be
calculated:

Section 10.4
 Avogadro’s Number and Masses
• The mass in grams of one Avogadro's number of an
element is numerically the same as the mass of one
atom of the element, expressed in atomic mass
units, u
• Carbon has a mass of 12 u
– 12 g of carbon consists of NA atoms of carbon
• Holds for molecules, also

Section 10.4
 Ideal Gas Law
• PV = n R T
– R is the Universal Gas Constant
– R = 8.31 J / mol.K
– R = 0.0821 L. atm / mol.K
– Is the equation of state for an ideal gas
– Temperatures used in the ideal gas law must be in
kelvins

Section 10.4
Ideal Gas Law, Alternative Version
• P V = N kB T
– kB is Boltzmann’s Constant
– kB = R / NA = 1.38 x 10-23 J/ K
– N is the total number of molecules
• n = N / NA
– n is the number of moles
– N is the number of molecules

Section 10.4
Kinetic Theory of Gases – Assumptions
• The number of molecules in the gas is large
and the average separation between them is
large compared to their dimensions
• The molecules obey Newton’s laws of motion,
but as a whole they move randomly

Section 10.5
 Kinetic Theory of Gases –
Assumptions, cont.
• The molecules interact only by short-range
forces during elastic collisions
• The molecules make elastic collisions with the
walls
• All molecules in the gas are identical

Section 10.5
 Pressure of an Ideal Gas
• The pressure is
proportional to the
number of molecules
per unit volume and to
the average
translational kinetic
energy of a molecule

Section 10.5
 Pressure, cont
• The pressure is proportional to the number of
molecules per unit volume and to the average
translational kinetic energy of the molecule
• Pressure can be increased by
– Increasing the number of molecules per unit volume in the
container
– Increasing the average translational kinetic energy of the
molecules
• Increasing the temperature of the gas

Section 10.5
 Molecular Interpretation of
Temperature
• Temperature is proportional to the average
kinetic energy of the molecules
– Temperature is a direct measure of the average
molecular kinetic energy of the gas

• The total translational kinetic energy is

proportional to the absolute temperature
3
KEtotal = nRT
2
Section 10.5
 Internal Energy
• In a monatomic gas, the KE is the only type of energy
the molecules can have

• U is the internal energy of the gas

• In a polyatomic gas, additional possibilities for
contributions to the internal energy are rotational
and vibrational energy in the molecules

Section 10.5
 Speed of the Molecules
• Expressed as the root-mean-square (rms) speed

• At a given temperature, lighter molecules move

faster, on average, than heavier ones
– Lighter molecules can more easily reach escape speed
from the earth

Section 10.5
Some rms Speeds

Section 10.5
 Maxwell Distribution
• A system of gas at a
given temperature will
exhibit a variety of
speeds
• Three speeds are of
interest:
– Most probable
– Average
– rms

Section 10.5
 Maxwell Distribution, cont
• For every gas, vmp < vav < vrms
• As the temperature rises, these three speeds
shift to the right
• The total area under the curve on the graph
equals the total number of molecules

Section 10.5