A system consists of two thermal reservoirs in contact with each other, one at temperature 300°C and the other at temperature 200°C. 600 J of heat transfers from the 300°C reservoir to the 200°C reservoir. What is the change in entropy of this system?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The change in entropy of the system is given by the heat transferred from the hot reservoir to the cold reservoir divided by the temperature of the cold reservoir. In this case, the heat transferred is 600 J and the temperature of the cold reservoir is 200°C = 473 K. Therefore, the change in entropy is 600 J / 473 K = 1.27 J/K.

A System Consists of Two Thermal Reservoirs in Contact with Each