Article
Article
Carnot cycle
Article By:
Baumeister, Theodore Formerly, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York; Editor in Chief, "Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers"
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.110400
A hypothetical thermodynamic cycle originated by Sadi Carnot and used as a standard of comparison for actual cycles. The Carnot cycle shows that, even under ideal conditions, a heat engine cannot convert all the heat energy supplied to it into mechanical energy; some of the heat energy must be rejected. In a Carnot cycle, an engine accepts heat energy from a high-temperature source, or hot body, converts part of the received energy into mechanical (or electrical) work, and rejects the remainder to a low-temperature sink, or cold body. The greater the temperature difference between the source and sink, the greater the efficiency of the heat engine.
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