Question

Consider a Carnot cycle starting at the state of highest pressure and smallest volume. Call the isothermal expansion from this state step 1, the adiabatic expansion which follows step 2, the isothermal compression that then follows step 3, and the adiabatic compression which returns the system to the initial state step 4. In which steps does the internal energy of the system increase?

A. 3 and 4

B. 1 and 3

C. 1 and 2

D. 2 and 4

Answer 1