Why is thermal energy produced by a heat engine not generally usable to do work?

A particular car does work at the rate of about 7.0 kJ/s when traveling at a steady 21.8 m/s along a level road. This is the work done against friction. The car can travel 17 km on 1.0 L of gasoline at this speed (about 40 mi/gal). What is the minimum value for T_H if T_L is 25°C? The energy available from 1.0 L of gas is 3.2 x 10⁷ J.

It has been suggested that a heat engine could be developed that made use of the temperature difference between water at the surface of the ocean and water several hundred meters deep. In the tropics, the temperatures may be 27°C and 4°C, respectively. What is the maximum efficiency such an engine could have?

It has been suggested that a heat engine could be developed that made use of the temperature difference between water at the surface of the ocean and water several hundred meters deep. In the tropics, the temperatures may be 27°C and 4°C, respectively. Why might such an engine be feasible in spite of the low efficiency?

Suppose a heat pump has a stationary bicycle attachment that allows you to provide the work instead of using an electrical wall outlet. If your heat pump has a coefficient of performance of 2.0 and you can cycle at a racing pace output of about 200 W for a half hour, how much heat can you provide?

An aircraft engine takes in 9 kJ of heat and expels 6.4 kJ of heat each cycle. How much mechanical work does the engine do each cycle?

A heat engine uses a tank of ice water as a cold reservoir. The engine takes in 8 kJ of heat from the hot reservoir, and the heat expelled melts 18g of ice in the tank. How much work does this engine do?

A steam turbine takes in 75g of water and boils it as heat energy to run a 40% efficient engine. How much work does this engine do per cycle?