Carnot's theorem
It states that no heat engine working between two fixed temperature reservoirs can be more efficient than a reversible Carnot engine, giving the upper limit on its thermal efficiency. It is used to judge how much work any real engine could ideally extract from a given hot and cold temperature.
\eta \le 1 - \frac{T_\mathrm{c}}{T_\mathrm{h}}What the symbols mean
| thermal efficiency of the heat engine (dimensionless) | |
| absolute temperature of the cold reservoir (K) | |
| absolute temperature of the hot reservoir (K) |
About this formula
- FieldPhysics
- TopicThermodynamics
- LevelUniversity
- Also calledCarnot's rule, Carnot efficiency bound, maximum efficiency of heat engine, Carnot theorem heat engine efficiency, carnot efficiency formula
- SourceWikidata Q2347139
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