PROPERTIES OF PURE SUBSTANCES:PURE SUBSTANCE

We start this chapter with the introduction of the concept of a pure substance and a discussion of the physics of phase-change processes. We then illustrate the various property diagrams and P-uT surfaces of pure substances. After demonstrating the use of the property tables, the hypothetical substance ideal gas and the ideal-gas equation of state are discussed. The compressibility factor, which accounts for the deviation of real gases from ideal-gas behavior, is introduced, and some of the best-known equations of state are presented. Finally, specific heats are defined, and relations are obtained for the internal energy and enthalpy of ideal gases in terms of specific heats and temperature. This is also done for solids and liquids, which are approximated as incompressible substances.
 
 PURE SUBSTANCE
A substance that has a fixed chemical composition throughout is called a pure substance. Water, nitrogen, helium, and carbon dioxide, for example, are all pure substances.

A pure substance does not have to be of a single chemical element or com- pound, however. A mixture of various chemical elements or compounds also qualifies as a pure substance as long as the mixture is homogeneous. Air, for example, is a mixture of several gases, but it is often considered to be a pure substance because it has a uniform chemical composition (Fig. 3–1). How- ever, a mixture of oil and water is not a pure substance. Since oil is not soluble in water, it will collect on top of the water, forming two chemically dissimilar regions.

A mixture of two or more phases of a pure substance is still a pure substance as long as the chemical composition of all phases is the same (Fig. 3–2). A mixture of ice and liquid water, for example, is a pure substance because both phases have the same chemical composition. A mixture of liquid air and gaseous air, however, is not a pure substance since the composition of liquid air is different from the composition of gaseous air, and thus the mixture is no longer chemically homogeneous. This is due to different components in air condensing at different temperatures at a specified pressure.

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