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Thermodynamic Processes & Engines

Try this: Push the Carnot engine's efficiency above 60%.

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About this simulation

Push a gas around a P–V loop, watch the first law close at every step, and find out why no engine reaches 100 %.

Taught in Thermodynamic Processes & Engines

  • first law
  • P–V diagrams
  • adiabatic and isothermal
  • engine efficiency

How this runs

The equations of motion are integrated in your browser at a fixed timestep, so the numbers do not depend on your screen’s refresh rate. Nothing is sent to a server. Use Share setup to copy a link that reproduces exactly what you are looking at.