Question

Carnot Engine questions: What was the full name of the man who imagine the first Carnot Engine? What thermodynamic theory did he use to calculate its efficiency? Describe a Carnot engine, in terms of thermodynamic processes. What does Carnot's Theorem say about the efficiency of a Carnot engine operating between two absolute temperatures? What does Carnot's Theorem say about the efficiency of a reversible engine which is not a Carnot engine operating between two absolute temperatures? What does Carnot's Theorem say about the efficiency of an irreversible engine operating between two absolute temperatures?

Answer 1

i)Full name of man who imagined the first Carnot engine was:Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot who was a French military engineer and physicist.

ii)carnot effieciency=(T_H-T_C)/T_H

where T_H=isothermal expansion tempature and  T_C=isothermal expansion temperature

carnot cycle is applicable to reversible processes.

iii)Carnot engine is basically a four step process with two steps being reversible isothermal expansion and compression and two steps being adiabatic expansion and compression.

iv)Carnot's theorem says that the efficiency of a Carnot engine depends solely on the difference between the hot and cold temperature reservoirs.

v)A reversible engine which is not a Carnot engine operating between two absolute tempratures will have efficinecy always less than that of carnot engine operating between same source and sink tempratures under reversible conditions.

vi)An irreversible engine which is a Carnot engine operating between two absolute tempratures will have efficinecy always less than that of carnot engine operating between same source and sink tempratures under reversible conditions.