Who first worked out, at a theoretical level, the maximum possible efficiency of a heat engine, and in what year?
ASadi Carnot, a French engineer, in 1824
BLudwig Boltzmann, an Austrian physicist, in 1824
CSadi Carnot, a French engineer, in 1906
DRudolph Clausius, a German physicist, in 1824
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Sadi Carnot, a French engineer, in 1824
1. The source credits a young French engineer with answering the question of maximum heat engine efficiency at a theoretical level.
2. That engineer is named as Sadi Carnot, working in the year 1824, during his study of emerging heat engine technology.
3. Ludwig Boltzmann appears later on in connection with entropy and statistics, not with the Carnot cycle, ruling out option B.
4. Rudolph Clausius is mentioned only in connection with the first statement of the first law, not this result, and 1906 is not the year given for Carnot's work, ruling out options C and D.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 15 "Thermodynamics", section 15.4 Carnot's Perfect Heat Engine: The Second Law of Thermodynamics Restated_
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