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Running a heat engine backwards

Running a heat engine backwards

Block diagram of a reversed heat engine showing heat extracted from a cold space, work input, and heat delivered to a hot space

In an ordinary heat engine, thermal energy flows naturally from hot to cold and part of that transfer can be turned into work. A reversed heat engine does the opposite: it needs an input of work to force thermal energy from a colder region to a hotter region.

Reversed heat engines (A-level only) Lesson

  1. A Level
  2. /Physics
  3. /Reversed heat engines (A-level only)

Step-by-step lessons on AQA A Level Physics Reversed heat engines (A-level only). Each one builds up to exam-style questions. Physics is one of the most mathematically demanding A Levels -- at least 40% of the marks require maths skills at Level 2 (GCSE) standard or above, so build calculation and graph-handling fluency alongside the conceptual content from the start.

Lessons