Practice question · Multiple choice
Carnot efficiency depends strictly on reservoir temperatures rather than the working substance. Why does this independence allow the cycle to establish the absolute thermodynamic temperature scale?
Hints
- How do conventional thermometers rely on specific physical materials?
- What makes a definition of temperature truly universal?
Show the answer
B. It offers a scale independent of any material properties.
Why
Thermometers reliant on substance properties fail when materials change phase or depart from ideal behaviour. Reversible heat ratios bypass material quirks entirely, grounding absolute zero dynamically.
Practise Cyclic Processes and the Carnot Cycle
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