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Scope and Language of Thermodynamics

Oct 30, 2012

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Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics

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1.5 Summary

Thermodynamics arises from the physical interaction between molecules. This interaction gives rise to temperature as a state variable, which, along with pressure, fully specifies the thermodynamic state of a pure substance. Given pressure and temperature, all intensive properties of a pure substance are fixed. This means that we can measure them once and tabulate them as a function of pressure and temperature for future use. Such tabulations exist for many substances over a wide range of conditions. Nonetheless, for engineering calculations it is convenient to express properties as mathematical functions of pressure and temperature. This eliminates the need for new experimental measurements—and all the costs associated with raw materials and human resources—each time a property is needed at conditions that are not available from tables. One goal of chemical engineering thermodynamics is to provide rigorous methodologies for developing such equations.

Strictly speaking, thermodynamics applies to systems in equilibrium. When we refer to the pressure and temperature of a system we imply that the system is in equilibrium so that it is characterized by a single (uniform) value of pressure and temperature. Thermodynamics also applies rigorously to quasi-static processes, which allow the system to maintain a state of almost undisturbed equilibrium throughout the entire process.

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