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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007  > March  >
In the Classroom
Hurricanes as Heat Engines: Two Undergraduate Problems
Pekka Pyykkö
Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Cover
March 2007
Vol. 84 No. 3
p. 447

Abstract
Hurricanes can be regarded as Carnot heat engines. One reason that they can be so violent is that thermodynamically, they demonstrate large efficiency, ε = (ThTc) / Th, which is of the order of 0.3. Evaporation of water vapor from the ocean and its subsequent condensation is the main heat transfer mechanism. The arguments presented here are simple enough to use as an illustration in a second-year chemical thermodynamics course.
More Information
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Citation
Pyykkö, Pekka. J. Chem. Educ. 2007 84 447.
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Keywords
Physical Chemistry; Problem Solving / Decision Making; Second-Year Undergraduate; Thermodynamics
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
2/1/2007
2/2/2007
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007  > March  > Page 447


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