A carnot cycle is an ideal FULLY REVERSIBLE, closed thermodynamic cycle in which the working substance goes through four successive operations:a. Reversible Isothermal Expansion
b. Reversible Adiabatic Expansion
c. Reversible Isothermal Compressions
d. Reversible Adiabatic Compression
1.The efficiency of an irreversible heat engine is always LESS THAN the efficiency of a reversible one operating between the same two reservoirs.
2.The efficiencies of all reversible heat engines operating between the same two reservoirs are the SAME.
Violations of these statements is a violation of the second law of thermodynamics
A temperature scale that is independent of the properties of the substances that are used to measure temperature is called a THERMODYNAMIC TEMPERATURE SCALE.
Using heat engines, it is possible to show that: