Author Question: An inventor wants you to finance construction of a machine that will run at room temperature by ... (Read 29 times)

genevieve1028 · **on:** Jul 28, 2018

An inventor wants you to finance construction of a machine that will run at room temperature by using the free thermal energy available in the air itself. Should you invest 100,000? Why or why not?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Sustainable development of a finite resource is

a. never possible.
b. sometimes possible.
c. possible half the time.
d. usually possible.
e. always possible.

kishoreddi · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 28, 2018

Answer to Question 1

You should not invest. This is what is known as a perpetual motion machine. The
second law of thermodynamics says that this cannot work as advertised. There is energy in
the air, but for a thermal engine to work, there must be a low temperature reservoir and a
high temperature reservoir. There is just one reservoir here, so the machine could not work.

Answer to Question 2

A