Specific heat capacities of gases

Specific heat capacity: When a body is heated, it was seen that the amount of heat given to a
body is proportional to the mass of the body & the rise in temperature.
i.e Q m
Q T
Q mT
Q = mCT
Where C is the specific heat or specific heat capacity of the substance.
Q
C
m T
If m=1kg, T =1k then C = Q. Specific heat capacity is defined as the amount of heat required
to rise the temperature of 1kg of a substance by 1k. Its unit is Jkg1k1 .

Specific heat capacity of a gas at constant volume (cv ) :

It is defined as the amount of heat energy required to rise the temperature of 1kg of gas
by 1k at constant volume. It is denoted by c v

Specific heat capacity at constant pressure (cp ) :

It is defined as the amount of heat energy required to rise the temperature of 1kg of gas
by 1k at constant pressure. It is denoted by cp

Molar specific heat capacities:

If one mole of gas is considered instead of 1kg then it is known as molar specific heat
capacities are represented by c v & cp given by
cp MCp cv MCv ; M is the molecular weight
cp is greater then c v :
When one mole of a gas is heated which is in a airtight frictionless piston vessel, its
temperature increases so the volume & the piston is pushed upwards keeping pressure constant.
As the volume increase, some external work is done. Energy for this work is supplied by
the heat energy given to it.
Energy supplied for a gas at constant pressure is used for
a) Increasing the temperature.
b) Doing external work by increasing the volume of gas.
Therefore cp c v

Relation between cp & c v -Mayers equation

Consider one mole of an ideal gas enclosed in a cylinder
connected with a frictionless airtight piston of area of crosssection `A`. Let P,V,T be its co-ordinates.
a) When gas is heated at constant volume by supplying Q1
amount of heat which changes the temperature by T, then
Q1 Cv T
Then energy supplied is used only to increase the internal energy.
Q1 dU Cv T (1)
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Gas
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M.N.Sharath kumar

b) When the gas is heated at constant pressure so that the temperature increases by T. In this
the volume of the gas increases which pushes the piston through a distance x.
Work done by the gas dW = Force displacement
= PA dx
= P dv
At the same time internal energy increases
dU Cv dT
If Q2 is the quantity of heat supplied then
Q2 dU dW
Q2 PdV Cv dT (2)
But Q2 Cp dT
Cp dT Cv dT PdV (3)
For an ideal gas PV = Constant= RT
PV1 RT1
PV2 RT2
P(V2 V1 ) R(T2 T1 )
PdV RdT (4)
Cv dT
RdT

3 Cp dT

Cp Cv R
This is known as Mayers equation valid only for a perfect gas.
Degrees of freedom: It is defined as the total number of co-ordinates required the positions of
the atoms.
i.e n = 3N r
where N = Number of atoms in a molecule.
R = number of independent relations between atoms.
Case 1: Monoatomic gas
Here N =1, r = 0
n=3
Case2: Diatomic gas
Here N = 2, r = 1 (distance between 2 atoms is a constant)
n=5
Case3: Triatomic gas
a) Linear atoms
N=3r=2
n=7
b) non- linear atoms
N=3
r=3
n=6

Law of equipartition of energy: It states that the total energy is equally shared by all the
degrees of freedom. The average K.E associated with one molecule per degree of freedom is
1
n
kT where k is the Boltzmans constant. Average K.E/molecule is kT where n is the
2
2
degrees of freedom.
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M.N.Sharath kumar

Ratio of specific heats ():

1
The total energy of 1mole of a perfect gas at a temperature T is n RT where n is the
2
number of degrees of freedom. At temperature
n
T + dT, the energy is R(T dT) .
2
n
n
Cv dT R(T dT) RT
2
2
n
RdT
2
n
Cv R (1)
2
According to mayers equation Cp Cv R we have
n
R
2
n
R 1
2
2n
R
(2)
2
2n
R

2
Wkt
R
n
2
2n

n
2
1
n
Case 1: Monoatomic gas: n=3
2
1 1.666
3
Case 2: diatomic gas: n=5
2
1 1.41
5
Case 3: Polyatomic gas: n=6
2
1 1.33
6
The value of gives the atomicity i.e the number of atoms in a molecule
Cp R

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M.N.Sharath kumar