Question

Each of three identical bodies has a temperature-independent heat capacity C. The three bodies have initial temperatures T3>T2>T1. What is the maximum amount of work that can be extracted leaving the three bodies at a common final temperature?

Answer 1

final temperature of the three bodies would be (T1+T2+T3)/3 = T¹ (say)
work done in heat exchange by the three bodies = mc[(T¹-T1)+(T¹-T2)+(T¹-T3)] = 2mc(T1+T2+T3)/3