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Q.Schematic diagram of a heat engine is shown below. a) Modify the given diagram for a refrigerator.

(1) b) Write the equation for the coefficient of performance of a refrigerator.
(1) c) In the given diagram, T1 = 900 K, T2 = 300 K, Q1 = 6400 J/cycle, calculate the value of Q2. (2)
Kerala DhseKerala DHSE Plus One Board 2019Subjective· 4mImportance★★★★★
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Figure — Refrigerator energy-flow block diagram
Figure — Refrigerator energy-flow block diagram

A refrigerator is a heat engine run in reverse (work is put IN to pump heat from cold to hot); for the ideal (Carnot) case here, Q2/Q1 = T2/T1, which gives Q2 directly from the given data.

a) Modifying the heat engine diagram for a refrigerator:

A refrigerator works exactly opposite to a heat engine — external work is done ON the system (rather than extracted from it) to force heat to flow from a cold body to a hot body (which does not happen spontaneously). To modify the given heat-engine diagram:

  • Reverse the direction of the Q2 arrow: heat Q2 is now ABSORBED FROM the Cold Reservoir (T2) INTO the central engine/refrigerator (previously it flowed OUT to the cold reservoir).
  • Reverse the direction of the W arrow: work W is now done ON the system (input, arrow pointing INTO the central oval), supplied by an external agent (the compressor motor) — previously W was extracted as useful output.
  • Reverse the direction of the Q1 arrow: heat Q1 = W + Q2 is now REJECTED FROM the central engine TO the Hot Reservoir (T1) (previously it flowed IN from the hot reservoir).

So all three arrows in the original heat-engine diagram are reversed for a refrigerator: Q2 flows in from the cold side, W flows in from outside, and Q1 flows out to the hot side.

b) Coefficient of performance (COP) of a refrigerator:

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