Question

To increase the efficiency of a Carnot engine, should the temperature of the hot reservoir be raised or lowered? What about the cold reservoir?

a) Hot raised, Cold raised
b) Hot raised, Cold lowered
c) Hot lowered, Cold raised
d) Hot lowered, Cold lowered

Answer 1

To increase the efficiency of a Carnot engine, the temperature of the hot reservoir should be raised, while the temperature of the cold reservoir should be lowered.

Step-by-step explanation:

To increase the efficiency of a Carnot engine, the temperature of the hot reservoir should be raised, while the temperature of the cold reservoir should be lowered.

This is because the efficiency of a Carnot engine is determined by the difference in temperature between the hot and cold reservoirs. By increasing the temperature of the hot reservoir and lowering the temperature of the cold reservoir, the temperature difference is increased, resulting in higher efficiency.

For example, if the hot reservoir temperature is raised from 300 K to 500 K and the cold reservoir temperature is lowered from 200 K to 100 K, the efficiency of the Carnot engine will increase.