Question

Calculate the net work output of a heat engine following path ABCDA in the figure below.

Short answer

The net work output of this heat engine is 4800 J.

Step-by-step solution

Analyze the figure and find an expression to calculate the net work output.

The figure is a PV diagram. That means the graph of pressure versus volume. So, the area of the curve in the PV diagram will give the net work output. Therefore, you need to calculate the area of quadrilateral ABCD.

Αrea of ABCD= Area of DABD +Area of DBCD

The area of a triangle is equal to the half of the product of its base and height.

Here, b is the base and h is the height of the triangle.

Calculate the area of ABCD.

The base and height of the triangles correspond to the change in pressure and the change in volume, respectively.

Therefore, these two triangles have equal area, and adding them together will give the area of the quadrilateral.

Therefore, the work done along the path ABCDA is 4800 J.