Consider a reversible heat engine operating between two reservoirs at temperatures and .The engine absorbs heat from the reservoir at temperature and rejects heat to the reservoir at temperature . Show that the efficiency of the heat engine can be expressed as:
The efficiency of a heat engine is defined as the ratio of useful work output ( to the heat input
From the first law of thermodynamics, we know that for any cyclic process:
For a reversible engine, as the internal energy returns to the same value at the end of a cycle. Therefore:
Solving for gives:
Substituting this back into the efficiency equation:
Now, we know that for a reversible heat engine, the efficiency can also be expressed in terms of temperatures:
Thus, we have shown that the efficiency of the reversible heat engine is given by .
Therefore, the correct option is (1).
Study 40% syllabus and score up to 100% marks in JEE