Teaching the First Law of Thermodynamics via RealLife Examples

Wheijen Chang

Citation: Phys. Teach. 49, 231 (2011); doi: 10.1119/1.3566034

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Teaching the First Law of
Thermodynamics via Real-Life
Examples
Wheijen Chang, Feng-Chia University, Taiwan

T
he literature has revealed that many students encoun- why the explosion causes a decrease in temperature, they tend
ter substantial difficulties in applying the first law of to adopt the ideal-gas law (PV = nRT), and claim that decreas-
thermodynamics. For example, university students ing pressure leads to a drop in temperature. The reasoning is
sometimes fail to recognize that heat and work are indepen- not sound because the third variable, volume (V), increases
dent means of energy transfer.1 When discussing adiabatic significantly.5 Therefore, PV = nRT is insufficient to explain
processes for an ideal gas, few students can correctly refer the cooling effect of the sudden explosion.
to the concept of “work” to justify a change in temperature.1 After illustrating the ineffectiveness of PV = nRT, the first
Some students adopt the notion that “collisions between law (Q+W = ∆U) is introduced along with a review of the
molecules produce heat” to explain the rise in temperature concept of work defined in mechanics. The sudden explosion
for an adiabatic compression process.2 When explaining pro- can be regarded as an adiabatic process. During the explosion,
cesses entailing temperature variation, students tend to adopt work is done by the gas on the atmosphere. From the first
the ideal-gas law.1,2 Although most university students have law (Q+W = ∆U), the work done by gas causes a decrease of
acquired a reasonable grasp of the state-function concept, internal energy. Then, combining the first law and the kinetic
which is valid for variation of internal energy, they fail to theory, ∆U = ∆Ek ~ ∆T, where Ek is the total kinetic energy
grasp the concept that work depends not only on the states of the gas and ∆T is temperature change. Thus, decreasing
but also the processes. Thus, they are unable to use the first internal energy results in a drop in temperature, which is illus-
law effectively.3 In order to help students comprehend the trated by the condensation. The demonstration and in-class
meaning, usages, and value of the first law, and to realize that dialogue take about 10 minutes to complete.
the ideal-gas law itself is insufficient to analyze many real- Since the notion that “work results in change of internal
life examples, this paper introduces four examples, some of energy” in the first law is not intuitive, more examples are
which can be demonstrated in the classroom. The examples needed for students to practice. After two to three hours of
have been devised and gradually modified over a period of instructing on the definition of the first law and solving sev-
several years based on implementation in a calculus-based eral problems, a worksheet containing five real-life questions
introductory physics course. Details of when, how, and why is distributed and group discussion is undertaken. Two are
each example is adopted, along with the students’ pitfalls, are described below.
described below.
Air conditioning for aircraft cabins
Exploding bottle
Question: Jet aircraft fly at altitudes above
30,000 ft, where the air is very cold. However,
when exchanging the air outside with that inside
the cabin, why is air conditioning used, rather
than heaters, to obtain a comfortable cabin
a) b)
temperature? (Hint: Think about the outside air
Fig. 1. (a) Exploding bottle. (b) condensation of exploding bottle. pressure at high altitude compared with that of
the cabin.)
The first demonstration is introduced after completing
the topics of the ideal-gas law and kinetic theory. It provides Answer: Since the outside pressure at high altitude is far
a bridge from the ideal-gas law to the first law (Q+W=∆U), lower than that in the cabin, the outside air needs to be
where Q is the heat absorbed by gas systems,W is the work quickly (adiabatically) compressed before being delivered
done on the gas, and ∆U is the change of internal energy of into the cabin. From the first law (Q+W = ∆U), work is
the system. done on the air owing to the sudden compressing process;
A bottle is damped with a small amount of water, sealed, thus, the internal energy of the air increases, and the tem-
compressed with air [Fig. 1(a)], then suddenly opened, caus- perature rises dramatically.
ing an explosion. As shown in Fig. 1(b), a white “cloud” ap- Despite having considered related examples, most students
pears, indicating the condensation of water vapor, implying a still had difficulty with this example and needed a hint to see
drop in temperature.4 When the students are asked to explain the answer.

DOI: 10.1119/1.3566034 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 49, April 2011 231

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Hair spray
C, where γ is Cp/Cv). The “surprise” of igniting a fire using
your bare hands may stimulate students’ interest, retain their
attention, and render the abstract symbols sensible.

Solving problems
In order to encourage students to review these examples af-
ter class, conceptual questions such as those posed above can
Fig. 2. Hair spray. be devised as manipulating problems. For example,

Question: When the compressed liquid in a can Problem 1: Recalling the fire syringe demon-
of hair spray is released as a mist (Fig. 2), why stration, assume that the room temperature and
would the container cool down? In what ways are air pressure are 20oC, 1.00 atm. The ignition
the explanation of this phenomenon similar to point of the tissue is 630 K.6 The inner diameter
and different from the exploding bottle? of the cylinder is 0.800 cm, and the original
height of the piston is 11.0 cm. Regard the air as
Answer: Similar to the exploding bottle, this demonstration being composed of O2 and N2 only (γ =
is an adiabatic expansion process. Using the first law we see Cp/Cv =1.40). Evaluate (a) the number of moles
that since work is done by the hair spray in the expansion of gas in the system, (b) the work done on the
process, the internal energy of the spray decreases. However, gas to ignite the tissue, (c) the compression ratio
the hair spray involves the heat of vaporization exaggerating (Vi /Vf ), (d) the final pressure, and (e) the force
the cooling effect. This is only a minor factor in the explod- required for igniting the tissue.
ing bottle. Therefore, this demonstration involves both the
first law and the concept of latent heat. Answers: (a) n = 2.29×10-4 mole
After some additional discussion and practice, the last 5
(b) W=ΔU = ΔEk= nR∆T =1.60 J
demonstration is done and in-class dialogue is undertaken. 2
(c) TV γ-1= C, Vi /Vf = 6.78
Fire syringe (d) PV γ = C, Pf =14.6 atm
A fire syringe is an appealing (e) (Pf – Pair)A = 69.0 N.
demonstration to further reinforce
the concept of the first law. Put a
small piece of tissue into the cyl- Problem 2: Assuming that a jet plane flies at a
inder, press the piston forcefully, high altitude, where T = −40.0oC and P =
and the temperature can be raised 0.280 atm, evaluate (a) the final temperature,
dramatically to ignite the tissue, (b) the compression ratio (Vi /Vf ), when quickly
as shown in Fig. 3. The process is compressing the air to P =1.00 atm.7
quick enough to be treated as an
Fig. 3. Fire syringe. adiabatic process (Q = 0). Work is
done on the system via the com- Answer: (a) TV γ–1= C, Tf = 335 K = 62oC
pression. Thus, based on the first law, the internal energy in- (too hot to survive!)
creases and the temperature rises. (b) 2.48
When hearing this demonstration explained, a few stu-
dents are found to attribute the burning to the heat caused by These two problems are context rich and integrate several
the friction of the piston. This response indicates that when principles, i.e., the first law, ideal-gas law, kinetic theory, and
explaining the temperature variation, these students continue adiabatic state functions.
to seek sources of thermal energy rather than work, consistent
with the “collision model” found by Rozier and Viennot.2 Conclusions
Although the first law is defined, and many examples and Despite its simple mathematical form, the first law is not
problems have been practiced, the notion of work may still easy for students to comprehend. By analyzing ample real-
be overlooked by some students. Thus, providing abundant life conceptual questions, students may gradually appreciate
real-life examples to highlight this counterintuitive concept is the crucial role of the first law in thermodynamics and grasp
helpful. its key concepts, particularly the notion that “work can alter
In addition to enhancing the concept of the first law, this internal energy of a gas system,” as suggested by Meltzer.3
demonstration can also serve as an “appetizer” to initiate the Through the use of such examples, the basic physics principle
derivation of adiabatic state-functions (e.g., PV γ = C, TV γ-1= can become sensible, relevant, and meaningful to students’

232 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 49, April 2011

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daily lives. We emphasize that real-life examples or demon-
strations should not only perform the role of entertainment,
but provoke thinking and discussion.8,9

Acknowledgment
This paper was supported by the National Science Council
Grant NSC-97-2511-5-035-001-MY3.

References
1. M. E. Loverude, C. H. Kautz, and P. R. L. Heron, “Student un-
derstanding of the first law of thermodynamics: Relating work
to the adiabatic compression of an ideal gas,” Am. J. Phys. 70(2),
137–148 (2002).
2. S. Rozier and L. Viennot, ‘‘Students’ reasoning in thermody-
namics,’’ Int. J. Sci. Educ. 13, 159–170 (1991).
3 D. E. Meltzer, “Investigation of students’ reasoning regarding
heat, work, and the first law of thermodynamics in an introduc-
tory calculus-based general physics course,” Am. J. Phys. 72,
1432–1446 (2004).
4. Some students might regard white “smoke” as an indication of
heating, i.e., smoke due to heating. Thus, instructors need to

I WANT YOU
explicitly link the smoke (cloud) to cooling.
5. The author’s finding is consistent with Loverude et al.’s (see Ref.
1) and Rozier and Viennot’s (see Ref. 2) studies.
6. C. H. Haynm and S. C. Baird, “Adiabatic compression in a fire

7.
syringe,” Phys. Teach. 23, 101–102 (1985).
The problem was adopted in the 2008 final examination, with- FOR AN AAPT/PTRA
out prior instruction. Among the 113 first-year engineering
students taught by the author, the percentages of correct re-
sponses in each sub-question were: (a) 38%, (b) 42%, of which
WORKSHOP LEADER
11% misused V ~ 1/ P (isothermal process) in (b).
8. M. C. Buncick, P. G. Betts, and D. D. Horgan, “Using demon-
strations as a contextual road map: Enhancing course continu- If you are interested in applying to become an
ity and promoting active engagement in introductory college AAPT/Physics Teaching Resource Agent (PTRA)
physics,” Int. J. Sci. Educ. 23(12), 1237–1255 (2001). Professional Development provider, see the
9. C. Crouch, A. P. Fagen, J. P. Callan, and E. Mazur, “Classroom application at www.aapt.org/ptra.
demonstrations: Learning tools or entertainment?” Am. J. Phys.
72, 835–838 (2004). If accepted, you will be invited to attend the AAPT/
PTRA Leadership Institute occurring the week
Wheijen Chang is a professor at Feng-Chia University in Taiwan. She
has taught introductory physics since receiving an MS from Ohio State
before the AAPT meeting in Omaha. All travel and
University in 1984. Since obtaining a PhD in 2000 in science education on-site expenses are covered by PTRA funds.
from Waikato University, New Zealand, she has conducted research on
improving teaching and learning of introductory physics.
Professional Development for Teachers
[email protected]
in Physics & Physical Science

www.aapt.org/ptra

American Association of
Physics Teachers

PTRA
The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 49, April 2011 233

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