Melting Ice with a Carnot Engine

AI Thread Summary
A Carnot heat engine operates between a boiling water reservoir and a cold ice-water mixture, melting 0.034 kg of ice in five minutes. The heat of fusion for water is used to calculate the energy required to melt the ice, which is 11,356 J. The efficiency of the engine is calculated using the temperatures of the reservoirs, yielding an efficiency of 27%. The relationship between efficiency and work done is established, leading to the determination of the work performed by the engine. Ultimately, the discussion concludes with the successful calculation of the work output.
horsegirl09
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A Carnot heat engine uses a hot reservoir consisting of a large amount of boiling water and a cold reservoir consisting of a large tub of ice and water. In 5 minutes of operation of the engine, the heat rejected by the engine melts a mass of ice equal to 3.40×10^−2 kg.
Throughout this problem use L_f = 3.34x10^5 J/kg for the heat of fusion for water.

During this time, how much work W is performed by the engine?

I don't know where to start...any help please?
 
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Hi horsegirl09,

What is the efficiency of this engine? You are able to find a numerical value here.

Once you have that, how is the efficiency related to the work done?
 
I still don't see how i can get the efficiency without any temperatures or heat values
 
You do have the temperatures: one reservoir is boiling water and the other reservoir is a mixture of ice and water. What efficiency does that give?
 
Tc=273 k Th= 373 k
n = 1- (Tc/Th)
n = 1- (273/373)
n = 1-.73
n = .27 or 27%
 
n= 1-Tc/Th = W/Qh
how do i get Qh to get W?
 
You know that the exhaust melts a certain amount of water, so from that you can find the heat lost.
 
thanks i got the answer!
 
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