Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot

Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot is often known as the "father of thermodynamics." He developed the theory of how to achieve maximum efficiency through a heat engine. While his work was not seen as hugely significant during his time, it became extremely important in developing the second law of thermodynamics and the definition and idea of entropy.

The Main Idea

Carnot wanted to know if the work provided form heat was unlimited or if there was a finite limit to it. He also worked with steam engines to determine how other fluids would be used and if the were viable options instead of just steam. He concluded that the efficiency of a steam engine is dependent only upon the two reservoirs which it operates between. This represents the most efficient possible system for a heat engine known as the Carnot cycle. By using this idea of the Carnot cycle of a frictionless heat engine the process is able to be reversed and became known as thermodynamic reversibility. Because the process is completely reversible with no caloric loss, it is further confirmed that is the most efficient process.

A Mathematical Model

Carnot often attempted to keep his mathematical models to a minimum especially in his published works. However he did conclude that for the most efficient possible heat engine, where the engine is dependent upon only the temperature of the two reservoirs then [math]\displaystyle{ (T1-T2)/T1 }[/math] where T1 is the absolute temperature of the hotter reservoir.

[math]\displaystyle{ &Delta S &alpha ln(V/Vo) }[/math]

A Computational Model

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References

Sadi Carnot and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, J. Srinivasan, Resonance, November 2001, 42 (PDF file)