HumCooler: The Carnot Cycle

HumCooler: The Carnot Cycle

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Here we pause for a brief interlude of thermodynamic theory.

Sadi Carnot (1796-1832) was a French physicist who was interested in the steam engine, and spent most of his life trying to improve it. In the process, he developed the basic theory of thermodynamics that we use today. Thermodynamics studies the relationship between pressure, temperature, and energy.
Carnot's theory describes the best efficiency that a heat engine can achieve, appropriately called the Carnot efficiency. Without going into the details here, it is achieved by two isothermal processes (constant temperature) and two adiabatic processes (no heat energy in or out). This is the Carnot cycle.

The Carnot cycle is an ideal limit. Any real heat engine can only approximate it, but the Carnot efficiency is a useful goal, and the efficiency of a real heat engine is often compared to the Carnot efficiency as a standard. Thermodynamic engines can be quite efficient, and the Carnot efficiency is a

Here are some links to Web sites where you can learn more about the Carnot cycle and heat engines.

This page maintained by Wil Howitt
Last updated 4 June 2003