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Physics 317 Spring 2013 Assignment 04: due in instructors mailbox by 5pm on Tuesday February 19th.
1. A building at temperature T is heated by means of a heat pump which uses a river at temperature To (which may be assumed constant) as a source of thermal energy. The heat pump, which has ideal performance, consumes a constant power P, and the building loses heat to its surroundings at a rate (T To ) where is a constant. Show clearly that the equilibrium temperature Teq of the building is given by:

Teq = To +

P 2

4 To 1 + 1 + P

2-4. A heat engine works between the temperature of a hot reservoir, Th , and a low temp reservoir that is at the environmental temperature Te . An inventor suggests that the efficiency of this heat engine can be increased by using a refrigerator to lower the temperature of the cold reservoir to Tl (the hot reservoir for the fridge is effectively the environment). This refrigerator will use some but obviously not all of the work produced by the engine. Assume the theoretical maximum efficiency for the both the engine and the fridge, and assume the refrigerator consumes a fraction of the work done by the engine where 0 < < 1 . 2. Find an expression for the ratio of the net (available) work by this arrangement to the heat extracted from the hot reservoir, expressed only in terms of the variables given to you above. 3. Is it possible to improve the efficiency of the engine in this way? 4. Whatever your answers to Q2 and Q3, above, was, explain how and why they are consistent with the second law of thermodynamics. 5. A very large mass M of hot volcanic magma is to be used to generate electricity by injecting water into it and using the steam generated to drive a turbine. During this process, the temperature of the magma drops according to the relationship dQh = MCdTh where C is the specific heat capacity of the magma, which we assume to be temperature independent. If the plant operates at the Carnot efficiency, calculate the total amount of electrical energy (this is the useful work) extracted from the magma if the initial temperature of the magma was Th = Ti and the plant has to be shut down when the process is only 40% efficient. Assume a constant temperature for the cold reservoir of Tl where Ti = 5Tl 6 and 7. A river with a water temperature of Tl = 20 o C is to be used as the low temperature reservoir of a large power plant that operates with a steam temperature of Th = 500 o C . 6. If ecological considerations limit the amount of heat that can be dumped into the river to 1500MW, what is the maximum electrical output that the plant can deliver? 7. If improvements in pressurized hot-steam technology permit Th to be raised (increased) by 100 o C , what effect would this have on the plant output capacity? 8. A 100 W light bulb burns in a Carnot refrigerator that draws 100 W. Discuss whether this refrigerator can cool below room temperature.

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9 and 10. Two identical bodies of constant (finite) heat capacity C are initially at temperatures T1 and T2 , where T1 < T2 . The bodies are used as reservoirs for a heat engine. 9. Show that the work obtainable from these two reservoirs is W = C T1 + T2 2T f reached by the two bodies.

) where T

is the final temperature

10. Show clearly that the maximum amount of work obtainable is given by W = C T1 + T2 2 T1T2