Physics › Section J · Thermodynamics › Topic J.3
Heat engines and efficiency
Power stations, car engines and jet engines all turn heat into work, and every one of them throws a large share of that heat away. The second law of thermodynamics explains why some waste is unavoidable, and efficiency measures how much useful work is left.
In this topic
- Processes that only go one way
- The second law: heat flows downhill
- What a heat engine does
- Energy over a cycle
- The second law: no perfect engine
- Efficiency
- Worked example: a power station
- Worked example: a car engine
- The Otto cycle
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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