Question

A heat engine operating at maximum efficiency has an efficiency of 25%. The temperatureof the cold reservoir is 300 K. What is the temperature of the hot reservoir?

Answer 1

Given,

The efficiency of the engine, η=25%=0.25

The temperature of the cold reservoir, T₂=300 K

The efficiency of a heat engine is given by,

`\eta=1-(T_2)/(T_1)`

Where T₁ is the temperature of the hot reservoir

On rearranging the above equation,

`T_1=(T_2)/(1-\eta)_{}`

On substituting the known values in the above equation,

`T_1=(300)/(1-0.25)=400\text{ K}`

Therefore the temperature of the hot reservoir is 400 K