How to Calculate Energy and Work in a Stirling Cycle?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a Stirling cycle involving a monatomic ideal gas, where participants are exploring the calculations related to energy transfer, work done, and efficiency within the cycle. The original poster has provided specific conditions and steps of the cycle, along with some initial calculations.

Discussion Character

  • Mixed

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are discussing the calculations for energy transferred into and out of the gas, work done during the cycle, and the efficiency of the Stirling cycle. There are attempts to apply relevant equations, with some participants questioning the correctness of the equations used by the original poster.

Discussion Status

Some participants have offered guidance on the need to clarify attempts at solving the problems to better identify mistakes. There is a focus on ensuring the correct application of equations related to work and energy transfer, with some participants providing alternative formulations for these calculations.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working under the constraints of a homework assignment, which may limit the amount of information they can share or the methods they can use. There is an emphasis on understanding the assumptions and definitions relevant to the Stirling cycle and the ideal gas behavior.

mathpialpha
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Homework Statement


Suppose that 282 moles of a monatomic ideal gas is initially contained in a piston with a volume of 0.81 m^3 at a temperature of 574 K. The piston is connected to a hot reservoir with a temperature of 1365 K and a cold reservoir with a temperature of 574 K. The gas undergoes a quasi-static Stirling cycle with the following steps:

1. The temperature of the gas is increased to 1365 K while maintaining a constant volume.
2. The volume of the gas is increased to 3.13 m^3 while maintaining a constant temperature.
3. The temperature of the gas is decreased to 574 K while maintaining a constant volume.
4. The volume of the gas is decreased to 0.81 m^3 while maintaining a constant temperature.

It may help you to recall that C_V = 12.47 J/K/mole for a monatomic ideal gas, and that the number of gas molecules is equal to Avagadros number (6.022 × 10^23) times the number of moles of the gas.

1) What is the pressure of the gas under its initial conditions?
I got this question correct and it is 1661921.138 Pa

2) How much energy is transferred into the gas from the hot reservoir?

3) How much energy is transferred out of the gas into the cold reservoir?

4) How much work is done by the gas during this cycle?

5) What is the efficiency of this Stirling cycle?

6) What is the maximum (Carnot) efficiency of a heat engine running between these two reservoirs?
I got this question correct and it is 0.579487

I need help with questions #2-5

Homework Equations


Q_H = Q_C + W_(By Engine)
PV =NKT
work = NK*T_H*ln(Vbig/Vsmall)
Q_H = C_v(T_H - T_C) + work

The Attempt at a Solution


I got questions #1 and #6 correct. I tried using the equations above for the other problems but I cannot get the correct answer[/B]
 
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You should write your attempts at solving the problem else it's difficult to understand your mistake and point you in the right direction. Also your equation for work in an isothermic is wrong. ##W=Q=nKTln\frac{V_f}{V_i}##, where ##V_f## and ##V_i## are final and initial volumes of the isothermic.
 
Gianmarco said:
You should write your attempts at solving the problem else it's difficult to understand your mistake and point you in the right direction. Also your equation for work in an isothermic is wrong. ##W=Q=nKTln\frac{V_f}{V_i}##, where ##V_f## and ##V_i## are final and initial volumes of the isothermic.

For Question 2, I used Q_H = C_v(T_H-T_C) + NkT_H*ln(Vbig/Vsmall) and got 4337132.48 J
 
mathpialpha said:
For Question 2, I used Q_H = C_v(T_H-T_C) +...
You're not accounting for the number of moles in your expression for the change of internal energy of the system
 

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