Each second, a nuclear power plant generates 2000 MJ of thermal energy from nuclear reactions in the reactor’s core. This energy is used to boil water and produce high-pressure steam at 300°C. The steam spins a turbine, which produces 700 MJ of electric power, then the steam is condensed and the water is cooled to 30°C before starting the cycle again.
a. What is the maximum possible efficiency of the plant?
b. What is the plant’s actual efficiency?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 11 Solutions
College Physics: A Strategic Approach (3rd Edition)
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Microbiology with Diseases by Body System (5th Edition)
Applications and Investigations in Earth Science (9th Edition)
Organic Chemistry (8th Edition)
Campbell Biology (11th Edition)
Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry (13th Edition)
Introductory Chemistry (6th Edition)
- (a) How much food energy will a man metabolize in the process of doing 35.0 kJ of work with an efficiency of 5.00%? (b) How much heal transfer occurs to the environment to keep his temperature constant? Explicitly show how you follow the steps in the Problem—Solving Strategy for thermodynamics found in Problem-Solving Strategies for Thermodynamics.arrow_forwardA power plant has been proposed that would make use of the temperature gradient in the ocean. The system is to operate between 20.0C (surface water temperature) and 5.00C (water temperature at a depth of about 1 km). (a) What is the maximum efficiency of such a system? (b) If the useful power output of the plant is 75.0 MW, how much energy is absorbed per hour? (c) In view of your answer to part (a), do you think such a system is worthwhile (considering that there is no charge for fuel)?arrow_forwardA heat pump has a coefficient of performance equal to 4.20 and requires a power of 1.75 kW to operate. (a) How much energy does the heat pump add to a home in one hour? (b) If the heat pump is reversed so that it acts as an air conditioner in the summer, what would be its coefficient of performance?arrow_forward
- (a) How long will the energy in a 1470kJ (350kcal) cup of yogurt last in a woman doing work at the rate of 150 W with an efficiency of 20.0% (such as in leisurely climbing stairs)? (b) Does the time found in part (a) imply that it is easy to consume more food energy than you can reasonably expect to work off with exercise?arrow_forwardA thermal engine produces 4 MJ of electrical energy while operating between two thermal baths of different temperatures. The working substance of the engine discharges 5 MJ of heat to the cold temperature bath. What is the efficiency of the engine?arrow_forward(a) What is the hot reservoir temperature of a Carnot engine that has an eficiency of 42.0% and a cold reservoir temperature of 210C ? (b) What must the hot reservoir temperature be for a real heat engine that achieves 0.700 of the maximum eficiency, but still has an efficiency of 42.0% (and a cold reservoir at 27.0C )? (c) Does your answer imply practical limits to the efficiency of car gasoline engines?arrow_forward
- (a) How much heat transfer occurs to the environment by an electrical power station that uses 1.251014J of heat transfer into the engine with an efficiency of 42.0%? (b) What is the ratio of heat transfer to the environment to work output? (c) How much work is done?arrow_forwardA certain coal-fired power plant has a rated power capacity of P = 850 MW. The output of this plant is W = 0.26QH, where QH is the energy input as heat from the hot reservoir. a. Write an equation for the efficiency of a heat engine in terms of QH and the heat QC exhausted to a low-temperature reservoir. b. What's the maximum thermal efficiency of the power plant? c. What's the absolute value of the exhausted heat (QC) each second in MJ for the power plant?arrow_forwardA NATO base in northern Norway is warmed with a heat pump that uses 7.0°C ocean water as the cold reservoir. Heat extracted from the ocean water warms fluid to 80°C; this warmed fluid is used to heat the building. When the system is working at full capacity, 2000 kW of heat are delivered to the building at the cost of 600 kW of electrie energy. a. What is the actual coefficient of performance of the system? b. What is the theoretical maximum coefficient of performance of the system? а.arrow_forward
- A 39% maximum efficient coal-fired power plant needs to produce 600 MW of power. A. To achieve maximum efficiency, if the waste water is dumped into a 13 C lake, what temperature must the steam be heated to? B. Since coal contains 27 kJ of energy per gram, how many kg of coal must be burned in a day?arrow_forwardduring a cycle, an engine draws 3.50 x 10^3 j of energy from a hot reservoir and releases 2.25 x 10^3 of energy to a cold reservoir. a. how much work does the engine do in one cycle b. calculate the efficiency of the enginearrow_forwardA certain coal-fired power plant has a rated power capacity of P = 850 MW. The output of this plant is W = 0.26QH, where QH is the energy input as heat from the hot reservoir. a. If the power plant operates for a full day at its rated capacity, how much energy QH in MJ is needed? b. If, on average, one ton of coal contains Q = 25 GJ of energy, how many tons nH of coal would the plant need to operate for a day at its rated capacity? c. How many tons nC of this coal is exhausted as wasted heat to QC in a single day?arrow_forward
- College PhysicsPhysicsISBN:9781938168000Author:Paul Peter Urone, Roger HinrichsPublisher:OpenStax CollegePhysics for Scientists and EngineersPhysicsISBN:9781337553278Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern ...PhysicsISBN:9781337553292Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage LearningPrinciples of Physics: A Calculus-Based TextPhysicsISBN:9781133104261Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage LearningPhysics for Scientists and Engineers: Foundations...PhysicsISBN:9781133939146Author:Katz, Debora M.Publisher:Cengage Learning