3 ms·

> the human body can operate at much higher efficiency than ... the "perfect" Carnot engine Can you expand on what you mean by this please? The ideal Carnot cy

> the human body can operate at much higher efficiency than ... the "perfect" Carnot engine Can you expand on what you mean by this please? The ideal Carnot cycle describes the fundamental thermodynamic maximum for extracting work from heat. I thought that applied across all state changes (i.e. not just in equilibrium situations)?

claudius 9y ago
Of course it applies if you wish to extract work from heat. However, it does not apply when extracting work from chemical, nuclear or electrical energy, only if you first transformed that other energy into heat and then transformed the heat into work.