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Question

Which of the following statements regarding Carnot engine is/are correct?

1. It is an irreversible engine operating between two temperatures T1 (source) and T2 (sink).

2. Its efficiency is given by \(\eta = 1 - T_2/T_1\), where T1 is the temperature of source and T2 is the temperature of sink.

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This question was previously asked in
UPSC CAPF 2026 General Ability and Intelligence Question Paper (19-Jul-2026)
The correct answer is

2 only

Statement 1 is incorrect: a Carnot engine is defined as an ideal, fully reversible heat engine, not an irreversible one — every stage of its cycle (two isothermal and two adiabatic processes) is carried out quasi-statically so the whole cycle can be reversed. It does operate between a hot source at T1 and a cold sink at T2, but the description of it as irreversible is wrong.

Statement 2 is correct: the Carnot efficiency depends only on the source and sink temperatures and is given by \(\eta = 1 - \dfrac{T_2}{T_1}\), where T1 is the source temperature and T2 is the sink temperature (both in kelvin), representing the maximum possible efficiency for any heat engine operating between those two temperatures.

Hence, only statement 2 is correct.

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