PHYS 2B Chapter Notes - Chapter 20: Diesel Cycle, Compression Ratio, Thermodynamic Cycle
Document Summary
The thermodynamic processes that occur in nature are all irreversible processes. Heat engine: any device that transforms heat partly into work or mechanical energy. Working substance: a quantity of matter inside the engine undergoes inflow and outflow of heat, expansion and compression, and sometimes change of phase. Cyclic process: a sequence of processes that eventually leaves the substance in the same state in which it started. Otto cycle: a model for the thermodynamic processes in a gasoline engine. Diesel cycle: starting at point a, air is compressed adiabatically to point b, heated at constant pressure to point c, expanded adiabatically to point d, and cooled at constant volume to point a. Refrigerator: a heat engine operating in reverse. It is impossible for any process to have as its sole result the transfer of heat from a cooler to a hotter body.
