Engineering Science (Thermodynamics) Assignment 1
Engineering Science (Thermodynamics) Assignment 1
Assignment 1
Thermodynamics includes three assessed assignments, together representing 20% of the marks for
this 10 credit component of the overall module.
The questions are mostly numerical, based upon the material presented during Chapter 1, Chapter 2
and Chapter 3. These are not multiple choice guesses ! You will need to sit down and work through
the questions with a calculator to hand. I would even suggest that you make use of your Mathcad
skills to check your answers.
This copy of the assignment is for reference only, where you see {?}, a single numerical value is
required. Final submission MUST be through the Questionnaire Tab for module 57034 in eBridge
Remember to check the units required in the answer, your answer will be incorrect if not
presented in the required units. Some flexibility is allowed in terms of the number of
significant figures provided in your answer.
Assignments handed in late will be marked according to Faculty regulations, until the assignment is
reviewed in class, after this time late submissions will receive a mark of Zero. So plan to submit
early!
Assume the standard acceleration due to gravity is 9.807 m/s2.
Atmospheric pressure at sea level is 101325 Pa.
1) The (vertical) force needed to support a mass of 2.5kg at rest is {?} Newtons
ii) When stationary, the car could be raised to a height of {?} metres such that it would have an
equivalent potential energy to the car when in motion.
Compartment A has a volume of 600 litres, and contains a mass of 1200g, at a pressure, PA.
Compartment B has a volume of 800 litres, with air of density 0.75 kg/m3, at a pressure, PB.
iv) When the membrane is burst the air in the two compartments mixes. When the system has
reached equilibrium the density of the air will be {?} kg/m3.
ii) Assuming a single cylinder, the hydraulic piston-cylinder would need to have a diameter of
{?} cm to be able to exert such a force at the fluid working pressure.
7) The absolute pressure in a tank of Nitrogen is 75 kPa. The ambient absolute pressure is 97 kPa.
One arm of a U-tube containing mercury, of density 13550 kg/m3, is attached to the tank to
measure the vacuum.
iii) The difference in height of the mercury between the two arms will be {?} cm.
At ground level the barometer reads, 760mm, and on top of a building the reading is 730mm.
iii) The difference in pressure, expressed in Pascals, between ground level and the top of the
building is {?} Pa.
iv) By determining the equivalent height of a column of air, the height of the building is {?} m.
9) A hydraulic cylinder has a piston of cross sectional area 30cm2 and a working fluid pressure of
2.3MPa.
i) From the definition of pressure, the resultant force on the piston is {?} kN
ii) The piston is displaced by a distance of 40cm which results in {?} kJ of work being done.
iii) The piston will travel (the displacement)a distance of {?} cm during the process.
12) An escalator at full capacity can carry a load of, 500kg. The escalator rises a height of 90m, in a
time of 3 minutes.