In 1824, his studies led him to propose a hypothetical working cycle with the highest possible efficiency between the same two reservoirs, known now as the Carnot cycle. We can construct a Carnot cycle with many different systems, but the concepts can be shown using a familiar working fluid, the ideal gas. The system can be regarded as a chamber enclosed by a piston and filled with this ideal gas. Because the Carnot heat engine cycle is an ideal cycle consisting of only reversible processes, it produces the maximum power output and has the maximum thermal efficiency among all heat engines operating between the same heat source at T H and the same heat sink at T L. Carnot cycle ... A Carnot cycle is an ideal thermodynamic cycle proposed by French physicist Sadi Carnot in 1824 and expanded upon by others in the 1830s and 1840s.
