CXXXIV. Specific heat variations in relation to the dynamic action of gases and their equations of state

Abstract

Summary Some preliminary experiments are first described relating to the determination of the variable specific heat function for highly superheated steam. It is emphasized that the neglect of any explicit incorporation of such a function in the thermodynamic equations for vapours obscures the reasons for many otherwise apparently anomalous results. The experimental data so far obtained are few, owing to difficulties encountered in the experimental method, but they indicate the probable existence of an inflexion point on the constant-pressure specific heat-temperature curve at the critical temperature. An analytical investigation into the problem of incorporating the variable specific heat function into the equations of state for gases and vapours occupies the into the equations of state for gases and vapours occupies the latter portion of the paper. By a combination of fundamental thermodynamic relations with the most probable adiabetic relation for gases and vapours, as revealed by experiment, an equati...