The Clausius statement of the second law says it is impossible to construct a device that operates in a cycle and produces no effect other than transferring heat from a lower-temperature body to a higher-temperature body. What would be the coefficient of performance of such an impossible device?

Correct answer: Infinity

Explanation

The Clausius statement forbids the spontaneous transfer of heat from a cold object to a hot object. A hypothetical device that could do this would require zero work input (W_in = 0). Since the Coefficient of Performance (COP) is defined as the desired heat transfer divided by the work input, a non-zero heat transfer with zero work input would result in an infinite COP.

Other questions

Question 1

Which statement best describes the equivalence of heat and work according to the principles of thermodynamics?

Question 2

How is the thermal efficiency of a heat engine defined?

Question 3

A heat engine produces 50 kW of net work while rejecting 75 kW of heat to a low-temperature sink. What is its thermal efficiency?

Question 4

What is the primary purpose of a refrigerator, and how is its performance measured?

Question 5

What does the Kelvin-Planck statement of the second law of thermodynamics imply about heat engines?

Question 6

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Question 7

Which of the following is NOT an example of an irreversibility?

Question 8

A Carnot heat engine operates between a high-temperature source at 300 degrees Celsius and a low-temperature sink at 20 degrees Celsius. What is its maximum possible thermal efficiency?

Question 9

What does the inequality of Clausius state for any thermodynamic cycle?

Question 10

How is the property of entropy, S, defined based on the inequality of Clausius?

Question 11

Which of the following statements about entropy generation (S_gen) is correct?

Question 12

For a closed system, what are the two mechanisms that contribute to the change in the system's entropy?

Question 13

A rigid tank containing 3 kg of R134a is cooled, causing its total entropy to decrease by 0.8049 kJ/K. Is the change in entropy (delta S) equal to the entropy generation (S_gen) for this process?

Question 14

For an ideal gas undergoing a process, the change in specific entropy can be calculated using the relation s2 - s1 = Cp * ln(T2/T1) - R * ln(P2/P1). Air is compressed from an initial state of 100 kPa and 27 degrees Celsius (300.15 K) to a final state of 600 kPa and 67 degrees Celsius (340.15 K). For air, Cp = 1.005 kJ/kgK and R = 0.287 kJ/kgK. Calculate the change in specific entropy.

Question 15

What is an isentropic process?

Question 16

What are the two mechanisms of entropy transfer for an open system (control volume)?

Question 17

For a steady-state, steady-flow process in a single-inlet, single-outlet turbine that is assumed to be adiabatic and reversible, which property remains constant between the inlet and outlet?

Question 18

Steam enters a well-insulated heat exchanger at 100 degrees Celsius as saturated vapor and leaves as saturated liquid at the same temperature. The specific entropy of the saturated vapor is 7.3541 kJ/kgK and for the saturated liquid is 1.3072 kJ/kgK. Another fluid, air, flows through the exchanger and absorbs the heat. What is the rate of entropy generation in the overall well-insulated heat exchanger system per kg of steam?

Question 19

How does the coefficient of performance of a real heat pump (COP_HP) change if the outdoor (heat sink) temperature decreases, while the indoor (heat source) temperature remains constant?

Question 20

What is the relationship between the coefficient of performance of a heat pump (COP_HP) and a refrigerator (COP_R) operating between the same two thermal reservoirs?

Question 22

Which of the following describes the four processes of a Carnot heat engine cycle in the correct order?

Question 23

A Carnot refrigerator operates between a cold space at -10 degrees Celsius and surroundings at 25 degrees Celsius. What is the maximum possible coefficient of performance (COP_R)?

Question 24

In a T-S (Temperature-Entropy) diagram for a reversible process, what does the area under the process curve represent?

Question 25

Why is the entropy of the universe always increasing?

Question 26

A two-stage steam engine has a first stage with thermal efficiency of 30 percent and a second stage with a thermal efficiency of 40 percent. 90 percent of the exhaust steam from stage 1 enters stage 2. What is the overall thermal efficiency of the combined cycle?

Question 27

What is the change in specific entropy of a block of copper (Cp = 0.385 kJ/kgK) when it is heated from 25 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius?

Question 28

Ammonia in a piston-cylinder device is cooled from 80 degC, 2000 kPa to a saturated liquid at 15 degC. The process is irreversible. The specific entropy generation for the process is found to be 0.3089 kJ/kgK. What does this value signify?

Question 29

A rigid, well-insulated tank is divided into two compartments. Compartment A contains 3 kg of CO2 at 150 kPa, 300 K. Compartment B contains 2 kg of CO2 at 220 kPa, 500 K. The partition is removed and the gas mixes. What is the final temperature of the mixture?

Question 30

In the mixing process of CO2 described in the previous question (3 kg at 300 K mixed with 2 kg at 500 K), what happens to the total entropy of the CO2 in the tank?

Question 31

What is the primary role of the condenser in a Rankine cycle heat engine?

Question 32

The thermal efficiency of a real power plant is projected to be 35 percent. The plant produces 500 MW of power. How much heat (Q_L) is rejected to the cooling water in the condenser?

Question 33

Which component of a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle is responsible for absorbing heat from the cold space?

Question 34

An isentropic process for an ideal gas follows the relation P * v^k = constant. This is a special case of the more general polytropic process relation P * v^n = constant. What is the value of the polytropic exponent 'n' for an isentropic process?

Question 35

A heat pump provides 20 kW of heating to a house. Its actual COP is 5.5. How much power is required to drive the heat pump?

Question 36

Which statement correctly distinguishes entropy (S) from entropy generation (S_gen)?

Question 37

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Question 38

What is the primary function of an intercooler in a multi-stage compressor?

Question 39

Air is compressed adiabatically in a two-stage compressor. In stage 1, the specific work is 140.7 kJ/kg. The air is then cooled and enters stage 2, where the specific work is 152.31 kJ/kg. What is the total specific work of the two-stage compressor?

Question 40

When applying the second law to a closed system, the term representing entropy transfer is approximated by the sum of Q_k / T_k. What does the temperature T_k in this term represent?

Question 41

An air compressor operates in a polytropic process with n=1.35. Air enters at 100 kPa and exits at 300 kPa. If the inlet temperature is 20 degrees Celsius (293.15 K), what is the outlet temperature?

Question 42

R134a enters an evaporator at -10 degrees Celsius with a quality of 0.1 and exits as a saturated vapor at the same temperature. The specific enthalpy of the saturated liquid (hf) is 186.70 kJ/kg and the specific enthalpy of the saturated vapor (hg) is 392.67 kJ/kg. What is the specific enthalpy of the R134a at the evaporator inlet?

Question 43

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Question 44

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Question 45

In a subsonic nozzle, how do the fluid velocity and pressure change as the fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet?

Question 46

For a steady flow device like a nozzle, the energy conservation equation can be written as h_i + (1/2)V_i^2 = h_e + (1/2)V_e^2. This assumes several conditions. Which of the following is NOT one of the standard assumptions for an ideal nozzle?

Question 47

An adiabatic two-stage compressor with an intercooler has a total specific entropy generation of 0.246 kJ/kgK. The entropy generation in each of the two adiabatic compression stages is 0.0913 kJ/kgK and 0.0921 kJ/kgK respectively. Why is the total system entropy generation greater than the sum of the entropy generated in the two stages?

Question 48

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Question 49

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Question 50

An irreversible process and a reversible process both occur between the same initial and final states. Which of the following statements is true regarding their change in entropy (delta S)?