Lesson plan 11

Net Work Done by a Carnot Engine

In a Carnot engine, the working substance completes

reversible cycles.

Thus for a complete cycle of the working substance, the

net entropy change,
∆𝑬𝒊𝒏𝒕 = 𝟎
In each cycle of a Carnot engine, the
heat 𝑸𝑯 is transferred to the working
substance from the high temperature
reservoir and the heat 𝑸𝑳 is transferred
from the working substance to the low
temperature reservoir.

So, the net heat transfer per cycle,

𝑸 = 𝑸𝑯 − 𝑸𝑳
So, the first law of thermodynamics for the Carnot
cycle,
∆𝑬𝒊𝒏𝒕 = 𝑸 − 𝑾

⇒ 𝟎 = 𝑸𝑯 − 𝑸𝑳 − 𝑾

∴ 𝑾 = 𝑸𝑯 − 𝑸𝑳

This is the net work done by a Carnot engine during a cycle.

 Entropy Change in a Carnot Engine
There are two isothermal processes in each cycle of a Carnot engine.

During the isothermal expansion, the working substance absorbs heat

𝑸𝑯 at temperature 𝑻𝑯 .
+ 𝑸𝑯
So, the increase in entropy, ∆𝑺𝑯 =
𝑻𝑯

Again, during the isothermal compression, the working substance

releases heat 𝑸𝑯 at constant temperature 𝑻𝑳 .
− 𝑸𝑳
So, the decrease in entropy, ∆𝑺𝑳 =
𝑻𝑳
Thus the net entropy change per cycle,
∆𝑺 = ∆𝑺𝑯 + ∆𝑺𝑳

+ 𝑸𝑯 − 𝑸𝑳
∴ ∆𝑺 = +
𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑳

For a complete cycle, ∆𝑺 = 𝟎

𝑸𝑯 𝑸𝑳
∴ =
𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑳
 Efficiency of a Carnot Engine

Thermal efficiency, 𝜺 of any engine is defined as,

𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝑾
𝜺= =
𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑸𝑯

For a Carnot engine,

𝑾 = 𝑸𝑯 − 𝑸𝑳
So, the efficiency of Carnot engine,
𝑸𝑯 − 𝑸𝑳
𝜺𝒄 =
𝑸𝑯

𝑸𝑳
=𝟏−
𝑸𝑯

𝑻𝑳
=𝟏−
𝑻𝑯
23. A Carnot engine whose low-temperature reservoir is at 17 0C has an efficiency of 40%. By
how much should the temperature of the high-temperature reservoir be increased to increase
the efficiency to 50%?

Given,
𝑻𝑳 = 𝟏𝟕𝟎 𝑪 = 𝟐𝟗𝟎 𝑲
𝑰𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝜺𝒄 = 𝟒𝟎%
𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝜺′𝒄 = 𝟓𝟎%
∆𝑻𝑯 =?

For the initial state,

𝑻𝑳
𝜺𝒄 = 𝟏 −
𝑻𝑯
𝑻𝑳
⇒ 𝟒𝟎% = 𝟏 −
𝑻𝑯
 𝑻𝑳
⇒ = 𝟏 − 𝟎. 𝟒𝟎
𝑻𝑯
∴ 𝑻𝑯 = 𝟒𝟖𝟑. 𝟑𝟑 𝑲

For the final state, So the increased temperature of the high

𝑻𝑳
′
𝜺𝒄 = 𝟏 − temperature reservoir,
𝑻𝑯 ∆𝑻𝑯 = 𝑻′𝑯 − 𝑻𝑯
𝑻𝑳
⇒ 𝟓𝟎% = 𝟏 − ′
𝑻𝑯
= (𝟓𝟖𝟎 − 𝟒𝟖𝟑. 𝟑𝟑) 𝑲
𝑻𝑳
⇒ ′ = 𝟏 − 𝟎. 𝟓𝟎
𝑻𝑯
= 𝟗𝟔. 𝟔𝟕 𝑲
∴ 𝑻′𝑯 = 𝟓𝟖𝟎 𝑲
24. A Carnot engine absorbs 52 kJ as heat and exhausts 36 kJ as heat in each cycle. Calculate
(a) the engine’s efficiency and (b) the work done per cycle in kilojoules.

Given,
𝑸𝑯 = 𝟓𝟐 𝑲𝑱 = 𝟓𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 𝑱

𝑸𝑳 = 𝟑𝟔 𝑲𝑱 = 𝟑𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 𝑱

𝒂 𝜺𝒄 =?

We know,
𝑸𝑳
𝜺𝒄 = 𝟏 − × 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑸𝑯
𝟑𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑
= 𝟏− 𝟑
× 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝟓𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎

= 𝟑𝟎. 𝟕𝟕 %
𝒃 𝑾 =?

We know
𝑾 = 𝑸𝑯 − 𝑸𝑳

= 𝟓𝟐 𝑲𝑱 − 𝟑𝟔 𝑲𝑱

= 𝟏𝟔 𝑲𝑱