MDCAT Physics · Physics · Thermodynamics. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
A heat engine takes heat Q1 from a hot source, turns part of it into work W, and gives the rest, Q2, to a cold sink. So W = Q1 − Q2. The Carnot engine is an ideal reversible engine. No engine working between the same two temperatures can be more efficient, and its efficiency depends only on those temperatures in kelvin.
The second law says that no engine can turn heat completely into work in a cycle, and that heat does not flow by itself from a cold body to a hot one.
Entropy measures disorder. In every natural process the total entropy of the system and its surroundings increases.
Putting Celsius temperatures into the Carnot formula. Always convert to kelvin first, and remember that T1 is the hot source and T2 the cold sink.
Answer: 600 J per cycle (the other 600 J goes to the sink)
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