Entropy and The Second Law of Thermodynamics
Entropy and The Second Law of Thermodynamics
Entropy and The Second Law of Thermodynamics
• All real engines are less efficient than the Carnot engine
because they do not operate through a reversible cycle.
• The efficiency of a real engine is further reduced by such
practical difficulties as friction and energy losses by
conduction.
Description of Carnot cycle
• To describe the Carnot cycle taking place
between temperatures Tc and Th , we assume
that the working substance is an ideal gas
contained in a cylinder fitted with a movable
piston at one end. The cylinder’s walls and the
piston are thermally nonconducting.
Rewriting,
for irreversible
processes
Qc Qh
Stot
Tc Th
Qh 1200 J
Tc 300 K
Th 550 K
W Qh Qc 450 J Qc 1200 450 J 750 J
750 1200
Stot 0.318 J
300 550 K
Entropy
To generalize:
• The total entropy of the universe increases whenever an
irreversible process occurs.
• The total entropy of the universe is unchanged whenever a
reversible process occurs.
Since all real processes are irreversible, the entropy of the
universe continually increases. If entropy decreases in a
system due to work being done on it, a greater increase in
entropy occurs outside the system.
What you need to remember….
• What is a heat engine
• What is thermal efficiency
• What is coefficient of performance
• What does the second law of thermodynamics
state
• What is carnot efficiency
• Entropy