Calculate the amount of heat power that is generated by the isothermal process

[accidentprone]

Homework Statement

200W of power is required for an isothermal process of a larger cyclic process.
Use the first law of thermodynamics to calculate the amount of heat power that is generated by the isothermal process.

Homework Equations

Change in heat energy = change in internal energy + mechanical work done on surroundings

The Attempt at a Solution

I'm a little lost as to how to begin! I know an isothermal process is one in which the temperature remains constant but is that needed here? Or will it simply be employed in the rest of the question after this?

Also I know that I can change the mechanical work into (pressure)(change in volume) but I feel this leads nowhere due to the lack of other information in the question!

 

[eczeno]

hello,

in an isothermal process, the internal energy is also constant (assuming this is an ideal gas), and so Q=-W.

 

[accidentprone]

Oh ok - I should be good from there with the rest of the question... Thanks a million!

 

[eczeno]

cheers.

 

[rwisz]

To calculate the amount of heat power generated by the isothermal process, we can use the first law of thermodynamics, which states that the change in heat energy is equal to the change in internal energy plus the mechanical work done on the surroundings. In this case, since the temperature remains constant, the change in internal energy is equal to zero, so we can simplify the equation to just the change in heat energy = mechanical work done on surroundings.

Since the isothermal process is part of a larger cyclic process, we can assume that the mechanical work done on the surroundings is equal to the power required for the entire cyclic process (200W in this case). Therefore, the amount of heat power generated by the isothermal process is also 200W. This is because in an isothermal process, the change in heat energy is equal to the mechanical work done on the surroundings, which is the same as the power required for the entire cyclic process.

In summary, to calculate the amount of heat power generated by the isothermal process, we can simply use the power required for the entire cyclic process as our answer.