By operating a reversible heat engine with an ideal gas as the working substance in a Carnot cycle and measuring the ratio Qc/Qh, we can calculate:
A)n, the number of moles of the ideal gas.
B)the ratio Vc/Vh of the volumes of the ideal gas.
C)the ratio Pc/Ph of the pressures of the ideal gas.
D)the ratio PcVc/PhVh of the products of volumes and pressures of the ideal gas.
E)the value of Avogadro's number.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The ratio Qc/Qh is equal to the ratio of the temperatures of the cold and hot reservoirs, Tc/Th. Using the ideal gas law and the fact that the cycle is reversible, we can derive that the ratio of the products of pressures and volumes of the gas at the two points in the cycle is also equal to Tc/Th. Therefore, we can calculate the ratio PcVc/PhVh, and this is the only option provided that includes both pressure and volume in the calculation. The other options only include one of these variables or are unrelated to the information provided.

By Operating a Reversible Heat Engine with an Ideal Gas