Criticism of Feynman’s analysis of the ratchet as an engine

Abstract

The well-known discussion on an engine consisting of a ratchet and a pawl in [R. P. Feynman, R. B. Leighton, and M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1963), Vol. 1, pp. 46.1–46.9] is shown to contain some misguided aspects: Since the engine is simultaneously in contact with reservoirs at different temperatures, it can never work in a reversible way. As a consequence, the engine can never achieve the efficiency of a Carnot cycle, not even in the limit of zero power (infinitely slow motion), in contradiction with the conclusion reached in the Lectures.