Pedagogical Visualization of a Nonideal Carnot Engine

Figure 2

Snapshot of the visualization tool. The time spent in one of the isotherms (time for half a cycle) can be interactively changed. The blue dashed curves in the pressure-volume and temperature-entropy diagrams represent the curves for the ideal Carnot engine (infinite cycle time), while the red curves correspond to the current value of the time for half a cycle. The black dots on the power-time and efficiency-time curves display the current, time-dependent values of power and efficiency. The blue and red dashed lines in the efficiency-time diagram represent the Carnot and Curzon-Ahlborn efficiencies, respectively.