An inventor claims to have built a cyclic engine that absorbs 5.0×103J of heat per cycle at TH=550K and rejects only 1.5×103J of heat per cycle at TC=350K.
(a) Calculate the work output per cycle and the efficiency of the claimed engine.
(b) Derive an expression for the maximum possible (Carnot) efficiency for any engine operating between two temperatures TH and TC.
(c) Using your result from part (b), determine the numerical value of the Carnot efficiency for the given temperatures.
(d) Decide whether the inventor’s claim is compatible with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, giving clear quantitative reasoning.