- #1
MaxLinus
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- Homework Statement
- Work out the Clausius-Clapeyron equation using the efficiency of a Carnot cycle.
- Relevant Equations
- Clausius-Clapeyron equation; Carnot efficiency
In working out the Clausius-Clapeyron equation in an elementary method, we usually consider the work done in a Carnot cycle, built with two isothermobarics at , and , pressures and temperatures and two adiabatics, as , where is the volume of vaporized moles and is their volume in the liquid phase. The heat absorbed in the isothermobaric vaporization is usually set to , where is the molar latent heat of vaporization. So the efficiency is . Then the solution is easy: the efficiency must be equal to (Carnot cycle), and you get
But why the work done in the isothermobaric expansion is not considered in the balance? The heat absorbed should account for vaporization and for expansion, whose effect appears not so easily neglibile: latent heat of water is about , while an expansion of (not an exaggerated value) at atmospheric pressure ( ) should contribute with approximately .