Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,506,898,012 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Carnot, Nicolas Léonard Sadi

    0.06 sec.
Carnot, Nicolas Léonard Sadi (nēkōlä` lāônär` sädē` kärnō`), 1796–1832, French physicist, a founder of modern thermodynamics; son of Lazare N. M. Carnot. His famous work on the motive power of heat (Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu, 1824) is concerned with the relation between heat and mechanical energy. Carnot devised an ideal engine in which a gas is allowed to expand to do work, absorbing heat in the process, and is expanded again without transfer of heat but with a temperature drop. The gas is then compressed, heat being given off, and finally it is returned to its original condition by another compression, accompanied by a rise in temperature. This series of operations, known as Carnot's cycle, shows that even under ideal conditions a heat engine cannot convert into mechanical energy all the heat energy supplied to it; some of the heat energy must be rejected. This is an illustration of the second law of thermodynamics. Carnot's work anticipated that of Joule, Kelvin, and others.


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
? Mentioned in
No references found
 
Encyclopedia browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.