Question

A ship’s boiler steam comes out at 435 K and pushes through the system, exiting into the condenser, which is kept at 176 K by circulating seawater. What is the ideal efficiency of the ship’s boiler rounded to the nearest thousandth?

Answer 1

The ideal efficiency of the ship's boiler, using the Carnot efficiency formula, is 59.54% which rounds to 0.595 or 59.5% to the nearest thousandth.

Step-by-step explanation:

The ideal efficiency of a ship's boiler can be calculated using the Carnot efficiency, which is determined by the temperatures of the hot and cold reservoirs. The formula for Carnot efficiency (E) is E = 1 - (Tc/Th), where Tc is the temperature of the cold reservoir and Th is the temperature of the hot reservoir, both in kelvins.

In this case, the steam exits the boiler at 435 K and enters the condenser at 176 K. Thus, we can calculate the ideal efficiency as follows:
E = 1 - (176 K / 435 K) = 1 - 0.4046 = 0.5954 or 59.54%

When rounded to the nearest thousandth, the ideal efficiency of the ship's boiler is 0.595.